


Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats

by transriot



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College, Alternate Universe - Theatre, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Insecure Lance because theater arts is exhausting and nerve wracking, Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Musical References, Musicals, Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, im not ashamed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-08-08 01:51:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 75,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7738855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transriot/pseuds/transriot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since he was younger, Lance Sanchez wanted to be on stage. The idea of being in the limelight and being famous was something he thought was so achievable he could taste it. Throughout his life he chases his passion, enrolling in one of the best theater art schools. It's his freshman year, and already he has a role in the schools musical that year. He would be happy for this. If it wasn't for his archrival, Keith Kogane.</p><p>The musical au that no one thought we needed. Completed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ACT I, SCENE 1

**Author's Note:**

> the first chapter skips around a lot?? sorry, lmao  
> have my first contribution to the klance fandom  
> 

Ever since Lance was younger, he dreamed of being on stage.

 

Most children dream about being famous. They dream about their own interviews and going on Disney Channel or on Nickelodeon. Lance was one of these kids, wishing to become famous and wanting to actually do something that had to do with the arts. His parents encouraged him to the best of their abilities.

 

They had him in singing lessons for a while, and they also had him in some dance lessons too. Of course since they were broke the majority of his life, these lessons tended to come at random times.

 

When he got to middle school he was in his first ever musical, and Lance fell in love. Seussical was a stereotypical musical for middle schoolers to put on, and so his school put it on. When he was on stage, playing as JoJo the Who, Lance was a star. He starred in every production in school that he could and spent time trying to find productions outside of school as well. 

 

Time went on and eventually he transitioned out of middle school into high school. He went to the closest high school to him that had the best theater program. The school was considered to be elitist and people in the school were described as snobs and it was said to be for the rich, white, and depressed. This didn’t deter him.

 

Lance excelled in school. He was in the musicals and he did sports. At this time he managed to start back up his dance lessons, not worrying about his singing all that much since he was in two of the best choirs in the school.

 

He got his first job at the dinner theater in town and he started out as a waiter for a while. It was all worth it when he managed to snag a role there. Legally Blonde was his first role outside of school, even if he was just a background character. Cabaret was his next (and this time, he was one of the main characters, playing the equally as spicy Emcee).

 

It only made sense for him to go to the best theater school. He had the scholarships for it, and he didn’t mind taking on the debt.

 

So Lance gathered his things, moving northwest and enrolling in Garrison Magnet School for the Arts, and  _ fuck _ , was he excited. 

 

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁   
  


 

“I hate him.” Lance hadn’t even gotten a good look at the guy. All that he could see was his stupid mullet, and Lance hated him.

 

A sigh floated up from Hunk and he looked up at his buddy, who looked down at Lance with an exasperated expression. “You don’t know him,” he pointed out to Lance, who just frowned even more, glaring at the guy with the stupid hair and the stupid red jacket.

 

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve decided that I hate him,” Lance grumbled and stuck his nose in the air. “He’s in my History of Theatre 1 class. So technically I know some things about him.” Hunk just looked at the guy and then looked back at Lance.

 

“You can’t hate someone you haven’t even talked to yet.” Hunk looked beyond exhausted with Lance.

 

Frowning, Lance crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine, I’ll go and talk to him then.” He got up from where they were sitting, waiting for the Speech professor to come in.

 

“Lance, no!” Hunk was beginning to get up, trying to stop his friend from doing something stupid, but you could never truly stop Lance Sanchez from being stupid. Lance prided himself on being the epitome of stupid. He was marching towards Mullet Man with Hunk hurrying after him.

 

Mullet Guy was busy talking to Takashi Shirogane, who Lance recognized because he was a senior and probably one of the best actors in the school. Why was he in the class? Lance tried not to think about the fact that he was talking to Mullet Man.  _ Mullet Man _ .

 

_ Who even had a mullet anymore? _ “Lance,” Hunk muttered softly behind him. Lance didn’t turn around.

 

“Hey.” His voice came out smooth and he fixed a smile on his face. Mullet Man turned around and Shiro looked over at him. “I’m Lance Sanchez.” He stuck his hand out to shake.

 

All Mullet Man did was blink at him, confused. “Okay?” He looked at Lance as if he was doing something completely out of the ordinary by introducing himself. 

 

“He’s Keith, and we have to go,” Shiro cut in, giving him a smile that Lance had only seen on stage. Shiro wrapped an arm around Keith and lead him away from Lance and Hunk. Lance, proud, turned to Hunk with a smirk on his face.

 

“I know his name now,” he stated, crossing his arms over his chest. Hunk just sighed and shook his head, going back over to where the two of them were sitting. Lance followed, humming a song from _Cats_ softly behind Hunk. 

 

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
  


Later that night, Lance was laying down with his head in Hunk’s lap. “I go up to him and I introduce myself, naturally, because everyone should know my name, and he just blinks at me in what must be obvious awe,” Lance retold Pidge what had happened without any sort of embellishments at all.

 

“It wasn’t awe,” Hunk pointed out and looked over at Pidge, who glanced up from her laptop for a moment. 

 

“It was totally awe! I’m pretty sure even Shirogane was impressed.” Lance would have flipped his hair over his shoulder if he had hair to flip.

 

Pidge was just staring at him. “You mean Shiro? The senior dude?”

 

“Yeah, you know him personally?” Lance asked, sitting up and looking up at Pidge with an excited expression.

 

“He’s dating my brother, Matt. Keith’s his little brother,” Pidge told him with a small shrug. 

 

“Wait, your brother is dating Shiro?  _ The _ Shiro? Like, the guy who has won best male lead since he was a freshman?”

 

“Yes?” Pidge looked unimpressed with this and Hunk looked at Lance like it wasn’t a big deal either.

 

Immediately Lance was grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

 

Pidge pushed him off her and Lance fell unceremoniously back onto Hunk with a small ‘oof’. “It never came up in conversation. Besides, they just started dating like two weeks ago. It’s still new and it’s not like he would have introduced him to me if not for the fact that he can’t keep a secret.”

 

Lance just stared at Pidge for a full moment. “My rival is my hero's brother. What a tragedy!” Lance placed his wrist on his forehead as he swooned, leaning further into Hunk.

 

“He’s not your rival,” Pidge sighed, rolling her eyes at him. “He probably thinks that you're some weirdo.”

 

“He is to my rival! I’ll prove it.” Lance looked at her with determination in his eyes. “He’s bound to audition for the fall musical, and when I see him there I’m going to prove to you that he is my rival.”

  
Hunk patted his head. “Whatever you say, pal.”


	2. ACT 1, SENE 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prepare for insecure Lance   
> Pidge uses they/her pronouns

Lance was right. The next time he sees Keith, he’s in the hallway with everyone else who’s waiting for their audition. It’s been about four weeks now and Lance hadn’t approached him once. All he did was stand back and watch him from afar. It sounded creepy, but Lance honestly didn’t care. He needed to observe his rival.

Apparently, Keith was one of those assholes who didn’t warm up before their audition. When Lance finished his own warm up, he couldn’t help but stare and frown at Keith. He had observed him as much as he could. He wasn’t a stalker, though, since it wasn’t like he was following Keith obsessively. He just observed when he could.

How could he not? The guy wasn’t a dick, but Lance still didn’t like him. It was annoying that Keith was able to be so effortlessly cool and that he was so good at basically every class that they shared together, despite the fact that it seemed like he didn’t even try. Also, his brother was totally awesome and Lance was a bit jealous that he got to spend so much time around him.

Keith was sitting in the corner as everyone waited for whoever was next to go and disappear inside the auditorium for auditions. Lance stared at him, glaring at him for a moment before deciding to go up to him and talk to him. Keith had to know that Lance was there and that he was going to take the best role that he could get.

Cats offered a ton of roles that were all equally great, so it wouldn’t be hard. Especially when the roles of the oldest cats were already taken by some of the teachers who were participating. That just left some of the best roles to play.

“Hey there,” Lance said pleasantly, sliding in next to Keith and leaning back against the wall. “You’re auditioning to?” Act casual. Hunk wasn’t there to save his ass, since he had decided to go on a date with Shay rather than wait for Lance and his audition. Lance understood, because Hunk wasn’t actually a singer or an actor, (although he did play the ukulele, which was a stereotype that Lance teased him about) he just liked to manage the stage. Same with Pidge.

Except Pidge was more into effects and tech than anything else.

Lance brought himself back into reality, because Keith was staring at him. He furrowed his eyebrows at Lance. “Who are you?”

“I’m Lance Sanchez. Your rival.” Did Keith already forget him?

Granted, the last time they had talked to each other had been brief and it was a little bit ago, but Lance would have thought that he would have made an impression on Keith. How could he not? Lance left an impression on anyone and everyone. He was amazing and handsome, wasn’t he? People told him so, anyways, and people always seemed amused by him, so that had to mean something.

“I don’t have a rival, do I?” Keith was staring at him like he was stupid now. His head had tilted to the side and Lance thought of a cat, for a moment. Keith’s nose had wrinkled too, and Lance stared at his face. How could someone forget him like this? If anything, Keith would have remembered him as a weirdo or something.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he mumbled. “I’m in several of your classes! How could you not know me! Lance and Keith, neck to neck. Constantly on each other’s toes!” Lance just kept talking.

Keith continued to stare at him like he was an idiot. “I don’t have a rival.” His voice sounded so blunt and he looked at Lance like he was some kind of bug. Lance felt small and he decided that he hated Keith and his stupid mullet.  
  
Lance frowned, rolling his eyes at him. He began to open his mouth but someone came out of the auditorium. From what Lance could tell, they were shaking. He watched them for a moment before turning towards Keith. “Who are you auditioning for?” He asked Keith after a silent moment, staring at him.

“Whoever they give me.” That was a common answer. The majority of people don’t know who they wanted to play until they actually got a role or got nothing. Lance was surprised that Keith didn’t know who he wanted to play, since Keith seemed to be that type of guy who always knew what he wanted. Lance didn’t think about it much and just crossed his arms, staring at the floor.

Keith didn’t seem to care about him, since he didn’t say anything or bother to continue the conversation. Whatever. Lance didn’t want to deal with some guy who didn’t even remember him. Lance was great! He was a good person and people liked him.

“I’m just trying to go for whoever they give me, too,” Lance told him. He wanted to be at the same level as Keith, wanting to be head to head so that he wasn’t just being stupid and insecure. Creating his own rivalry was probably one of the things Lance did not want to do and he had gone and done it, and he was sure that it would make things worse for him from then on.

Keith didn’t say anything to him until the student director, Allura, popped her head out of the auditorium and said, loudly and clearly; “Lance Sanchez?” To which Keith looked at him and went, “Isn’t that you?”

Lance nodded his head and Keith stared at him for a solid minute. “Break a leg,” the Mullet Man said, and Lance just dragged himself inside the auditorium. Before he went inside completely he took a deep breath, tried to relax, and then plunged himself into the audition.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
“I croaked, Hunk! Croaked! There’s no way I’m going to get a support role and I’m going to be stuck as a stagehand--” Hunk gave him an indignant “Hey!” and Lance tried to cover his tracks. “Not that being a stagehand is bad! I have mad respect for stagehands and everyone who works backstage, but dude, I want to be in the musical. I want to be seen on stage, not wearing all black and making quick transitions between scenes or fixing up the sets. I want to have people look at me and go, ‘Hey, that freshman dude Lance was totally awesome in the musical. I would fuck him’.”

He flopped dramatically in Hunk’s lap and let out a loud whine. Pidge let out a loud and long sigh as she looked at him. “I’m sure you did fine, Lance. You have experience auditioning and you’ve gotten into professional theaters before, and stop talking shit about stagehands.”

“I’m not talking trash! I just don’t want to be one…” Lance whimpered pathetically, grabbing chips and chewing on them. “I want my mama’s tostones and picadillo.” He chewed on the chips as he tried not to cry. “What’s worse was that Keith was there and he didn’t even recognize me! How do you not recognize your own rival?!”

Hunk shared a glance with Pidge, who was playing her 3DS as if they weren’t having a conversation with someone who was bordering on tears. Hunk looked down at him and oh, Lance was already crying.

“Lance, buddy, you can’t have a rivalry with someone who doesn’t know who you are. You’re an amazing singer and you’re also an amazing actor. You have nothing to worry about! If anything, you can be an ensemble member.”

“We don’t know if they’re going to have ensemble cats!” Lance cried, gesturing wildly and shooting out of Hunk’s lap.

Pidge sighed and so did Hunk. “Lance, maybe you should just settle down and watch the recording of Cats with us, yeah? Then I can tell you my set design plans, since you’re frustrating me and Hunk.”

“Well--”

Pidge rolled her eyes at Hunk and then curled up as she played her video game. Lance wondered what she was playing this time around, since Pidge seemed to finish every game she got in a week. “Shush, Hunk.” She didn’t even look up from her game when she said this.

Lance pouted a little bit, curling up next to Hunk. He grabbed a blanket and pulled Pidge close to himself (even though she whined and tried to get away after just settling in next to Lance). He was squashed between the two of them, despite the fact that it should be Pidge since she was the smallest. Hunk put on the musical and Lance tried not to cry as they watched it. All he wanted to be was one of those damn furries dancing on stage.

Was that too much to ask?


	3. ACT 1, SCENE 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early than it should be but I also didn't post last week so!!!

The next thing that had to do with auditions was the dancing part. It was a few days after the singing and acting auditions and Lance was definitely not ready.

He had gotten all of his beauty sleep for the last few days and he had made sure that he was limber enough. He made sure that he had his water and everything he needed for this, but it didn’t mean that he was any less eager about it. The way that he felt that his singing and acting audition went made him feel enthusiastic about everything.

When he had left their dorm room that morning, Hunk had gave him a loud ‘break a leg’ and Pidge had sent him a text which featured a bunch of Shrek fanfiction. Lance wasn’t sure what to do, but he was guessing that it was probably Pidge’s weird ass way of saying for him to ‘break a leg’.

As soon as he got to the auditorium, Lance couldn’t help but feel as if all of the positive energy and hope had been sucked out of him and just been replaced with something more nerve-wracking. He just took a deep breath and fixed his pant leg. “Okay, you got this. You did ballet for, like, fifteen hundred years, you’re as agile as a lion,” Lance mumbled under his breath as he headed over to where the auditorium was.

“I’m as agile as a lion,” Lance sang quietly to himself. “A lion with teeth and claws. As agile as a lion.” He hummed a tune on his way down the hall.

“As agile as a lion?” There was no bite in the tone, just confusion. Lance jumped, looking over his shoulder and seeing Keith approach him. When did he get there? How did Lance not hear him? That was weird. Was the guy some kind of ninja?

Lance straightened up again and laughed, “Agile as a lion? Who? What?” Lance couldn’t help but feel embarrassment crawl up into his neck as he scratched the back of his head. He let out another small laugh. “If you’re talking about me. that is completely true. I’m the smoothest person on the stage, you know? Took ballet for years. The teachers always sang my praises. So did my classmates,” Lance bragged. It was partially true.

They only sang his praises after he stopped dropping people and when he stopped acting like a self-centered jerk (to which his teachers realized it was a defense mechanism and after so many ballerinas saw him cry).

Keith just stared at him as if he said something stupid, raising an eyebrow. “What does that even mean?”

“You know… That I’m graceful, agile?”

“Right, yeah, I get that part, but why a lion?”

“Because I’m auditioning for Cats and a lion was my high school mascot.” He wasn’t sure why he said the last part, but Keith nodded his head and then sped up as they got closer to the auditorium. “Hey!” Lance shouted after him. “I’m not letting you in there first!” He didn’t like Keith, of course he didn’t like Keith. The dude was an ass.

Also, who talked to people when they were singing under their breath? That’s just rude.

Lance shook his head and headed towards the auditorium, trying not to think about the fact that he possibly embarrassed himself. Lance was a good dancer, damnit, he was a hot dancer. He moved his hips like he was Shakira, he could manage this.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Lance could manage this. He kept glaring at Keith, who was able to match the steps alongside him, who also didn’t have a problem with the dance moves. Lance was determined to win. He needed to prove that he was better than Keith, that he was the person who will bring him down.

Godly brother in the arts or not, Lance had worked for years to get to this point. Shiro was auditioning this year but he hadn’t been at the same auditioning dates as Keith and Lance. He guessed that the two of them didn’t want to audition together and have the director's think anything.

The student director, Allura, was watching them, along with the three teachers at her side. Coran was the vocal director for this musical, and there was a dancing director as well as a normal drama director. Lance just felt lucky that they weren’t dealing with Zarkon, as he tended to be the harshest of all the directors and played favorites on the students.

The dancing was so hard that Lance was sweating because of it. He was mainly sweating because of the amount of anxiety that was in his chest and in his stomach. Lance still didn’t miss a step when he had to do some weird move.

This audition seemed to be going better for him than the singing one has, but maybe it was because he knew that he was totally showing up Keith. The roll of his hips was ten times better and you know what? Lance was fucking agile. In comparison to Keith, he was like a ballerina (he was a ballerina, but that wasn’t the point of it).

It didn’t take long until the auditions were over, and when they were over they were all wished good luck and left the auditorium.

Lance left feeling like he definitely had a part.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

“I crushed it!” Lance cheered, two days after when he finally both had Pidge and Hunk in the same space. Hunk’s girlfriend Shay was with them, but she didn’t say a lot because still warming up to them. Lance liked her, though, she was sweet and Hunk was basically head over heels for her, so it wasn’t like he could pick a bone with anyone Hunk liked this much.

Pidge looked at him. “So you’re no longer moping and thinking that you’re not going to get in?” She asked him, stuffing her hands in his jacket (she was wearing a crop top in October, it got cold here quickly and Lance wasn’t going to let her freeze).

“Moping? I don’t mope! I lament.” Lance flipped invisible hair.

Hunk smiled and looked at Lance, “I’m glad that you feel better about the auditions. What exactly made you feel so good, anyways?” Hunk was holding hands with Shay and Lance wondered vaguely for a moment if the two of them were going to be grossly affectionate. Hunk was a very snuggly man, so it wouldn’t surprise him.

Lance gave him a bright grin. “I saw Keith there. We were part of the same auditioning group and I totally crushed him.” Lance boasted.

“Lance, aren’t you concerned about creating a false rivalry with someone you barely know?” Pidge furrowed her eyebrows at him and Lance looked down at her.

“Whaddya mean?”

“Well, Pidge is probably talking about the fact that you created this false rivalry and you’re doing the thing where you compare yourself to someone again.”

“I don’t do that, do I?” Lance frowned at Hunk who just shrugged, giving his best friend a sheepish look.

“I’m just saying, man, if you’re really rivals he would have remembered you. Sometimes you take things like this too far, since you’re kind of just, I don’t know… Pidge, how do I phrase this?” Hunk looked over at the shortest one in the group, who glanced up from her phone to look back at Hunk.

“Trying to measure himself up against others? You could have just rephrased what you said earlier. Honestly, if you didn’t openly flirt with everyone I would have thought that you’re just covering up the fact that you found Keith hot or something.” Pidge shrugged and Lance frowned.

They were both wrong, of course. “No. I just find him and his stupid mullet annoying.” Lance did not compare himself against anyone else. He didn’t need to.

Shay took this moment to speak up, “Whatever the case may be, I am sure that you did a great job, Lance!” She sounded so happy and pure and Lance could easily see why Hunk liked her. Her voice was so soft and pleasant.

Lance couldn’t help but give her a warm smile. “Thank you,” he told her with honest sincerity in his voice. Pidge and Hunk didn’t say anything else, just letting Lance lead the three of them to go and find the the list of people who had gotten a role in the musical.

The list was white and the letters were in all caps. Like an excited puppy, Lance ran up to it, leaving his friends behind. Before even glancing at the character side he just looked for his name, it was alphabetized by last name on the ensemble side and the named characters side.

“Sanchez… Sanchez…” He murmured underneath his breath. “Sanchez, Lance!” He found his name and let out a quiet whoop. He read the name next to his and grinned. “I’m playing Alonzo!” He cheered, his grin was so wide that it was basically splitting his face in half.

“Dude! That’s awesome!” Hunk let go of Shay in order to pick up Lance and he wrapped his arms around his friend's neck. Hunk swung him around a little while Pidge gave him a smirk.

“Nothing to worry about,” she told him. Hunk did not let go of Lance and Lance did an awkward scramble in order to climb onto his back. Hunk held him up by the thighs.

“Oh, how nice!” Shay gave him a small smile and a clapped her hands a little bit. Lance gave her an award winning smile and winked at her.

“Let’s go and celebrate! Come on, come on!” He dug his heels a little into Hunk who put up with his bullshit because they were basically brothers at this point.

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Fine, come on, you loser. I’ll treat you to lunch.” Lance let out a second loud whoop right in Hunk’s ear. Hunk, ever the good sport, still carried Lance despite yelling in his ear. “Where are we eating?”

Lance paused and thought about it. “I want burgers, but hey, Shay, Hunk said you were a vegetarian, right?”

Shay looked over at him and nodded. “I’m sure there are several places that can feed us both just fine,” she reassured him and Lance grinned. He nodded in agreement and just kept his face forward as they walked, humming underneath his breath.

As they left the area for the main auditorium, they passed both Shiro and Keith. Keith glanced at them and Lance glared at him as they walked past. Keith didn’t even give him the satisfaction of glaring back, so Lance just pouted as they kept walking.

Whatever. He was getting free food. 


	4. ACT 1, SCENE 4

The first day of rehearsals was giving Lance butterflies. He wanted to jump up and down and everywhere, and he was going to be doing that once they started to focus on dancing. Unfortunately, today wasn’t focusing on the dancing aspects just yet. It was more like a brief overview of everything and then they would actually cover a scene. Other rehearsals wouldn't have all of them together unless they were all in the scene, just like every other musical or play that Lance had been in. 

Since he had nothing else to do that day, Lance decided to just hang around the theater that they were going to work in. Supposedly there had been some discussion on whether or not they should do it in the black box theater, but they ended up in one of the larger auditoriums. Not that it was a huge deal, anyways. Cats had a lot of dancing, so they needed all the space that they could take.

Lance curled up underneath the stairwell that wasn’t far from the auditorium. He had gone to get something to drink and then ended up on one of the several nap benches that were hidden throughout the school. 

There was nothing really going on for the next few minutes. He had about five of those minutes until he had to haul ass to the auditorium. Allura was apparently the type of director that got royally pissed if you weren’t on time for rehearsals. She had a temper and she was stubborn, but she was also a total babe and she could be really sweet. All in all, she was just an assertive person. On the other hand, that was just all rumors that Lance had heard. He’d never talked to her before.

She was a senior and he was a freshman, and he really didn’t socialize outside of his friend group, as lonely as that sounded. Lance was content with what he had. 

No one seemed to come to where he was hidden and he wished that he had gotten there sooner, because this couch was comfortable. He closed his eyes, rationalizing that it wasn’t like he was going to fall asleep. A while ago he had made sure to set up an alarm just in case he lost track of time. Lance was totally a responsible person.

Sometimes.

“Are you sleeping?” Oh. Gross. Lance did not want to see him -- he knew perfectly well that he was going to have to see Keith no matter what that day. They had a three hour rehearsal that day, and that wasn’t even the longest time that they would be rehearsing. It was just easy since it was the first day.

“No, but if I was, would you leave me alone?” Lance moved his arm away from his face to look at Keith, who was staring at him from a few feet away. How did he even find him, anyways? Lance didn’t ask that out loud, trying not to talk that much to Keith. He didn’t like Keith, no matter what Hunk and Pidge may say about him being judgmental or whatever.

Keith had a pretty face, Lance would admit that, but that fucking mullet was annoying. Stupid Keith. Why did he had to be brothers with one of the most talented people at their school? “No? Should I?” Keith genuinely looked confused for a moment and Lance raised an eyebrow at him, mustering up the sassiest look that he had. “We have practice soon. Leaving you alone would mean that you might fall asleep and not wake up in time for the rehearsal,” Keith explained, still giving Lance the same look.

“Fine, whatever, at least I don’t look like I walked out of an 80s film!” Lance protested, sticking his hands in his pockets as he made his way over to the auditorium. He swore he heard Keith grumbling under his breath, something along the lines of ‘At least I don’t look like a toothpick’ or something stupid like that. 

Lance rolled his eyes and headed inside the auditorium. There were a few people inside, none of them were his friends but all of his friends were crew members or stage hands. So he stood there for a moment, out of the way from the door before he saw someone that he could potentially flirt with. Or just talk with. Sometimes it started up as one thing and then ended up as another thing. It all depended on the person that he was talking to, really.

Keith had left him alone by then, which was good, because he didn’t want to talk to that asshole after all. The directors were nowhere to be seen, so everyone was just mingling, trying to get to know their cast members. They were going to be talking and practicing with each other for two months. The show went on in December, and it was now October. 

They all had a decent amount of time to bond together. 

The girl he was talking with was named Nyma. Cute and tall blondes were always one of his weaknesses, but he assumed everyone had a little bit of a weak spot for cute blondes. Plus, she laughed at his jokes! “So you’ve been doing theater how long?” Lance asked her, smirking just a little.

“Oh, since high school, really. It’s amazing I got a role here. I mean, it’s a small role, but it’s something,” she said, smiling at him. “What about you? You seem experienced in all of this.” Nyma placed her hands on her hips and gestured to the space around them.

“I’ve been doing theater since I was little. I guess you can say I have a thing for the stage,” Lance informed her with what he hoped wasn’t an incredibly proud smile on his face. He didn’t want to be cocky. Not too cocky, at least.

“Really? My boyfriend in high school got me into it. He helps out with tech.” So, she had a boyfriend. Lance didn’t want to wonder if they were open to poly relationships since really, he wasn’t expecting an actual date out of this. He never really got dates no matter how hard he worked his charm.

Apparently his charming ways only extended to small abuelitas and drunk aunts who asked him when he got so tall. 

Lance gave her a bright smile anyways. “Is he going to be working on the show?”

“Yeah, Rolo’s pretty good with the whole lighting stuff. I am too, it’s how I started, but being on the stage is so much better.” Nyma said it without any bashfulness or fear that people would think she was looking down at the people working with the tech crew.

Lance nodded. “I understand.” Before they could continue there was a loud clapping sound and he looked up to the stage. There stood Allura, white hair that glittered under the spotlights with an air of grace and determination around her. She looked like she was glaring at all of them. Next to her stood Coran, who looked like he couldn’t decide between being happy or stern. What he decided on made him look more constipated than anything else.

“All right, everybody! First things first, introductions. I am Coran, your choral director. I also do some stage directing as well. You will listen to me, and respect me, but don’t be afraid to come to me if you need something!” Coran was with Allura when he had his auditions. Which made sense, of course, considering that they were the directors and all.

Allura was next, and she stepped forward. “I’m Allura.” Even her voice sounded determined and assertive. “I’m your student director. I’m a senior, and I have worked with this school for a long time.”

“Everything she says goes,” Coran said, nodding to the students assembled on the floor. “I expect you to respect her as much as you respect me, but I don’t have any fear that you won’t.” Coran seemed so light hearted in comparison to Allura. 

“Let’s begin, everyone.” Allura smiled for the first time before going back to her serious demeanor.

The usual proceedings began and they were handed their scripts and other things they will need to perform. Everyone had to sing at some point, but there weren’t as many people as Lance thought there would be. Which wasn’t a big deal, really, it just meant that there was more room for him to shine.

As he was glancing around, he saw Keith curled up in his chair next to Shiro like a grumpy child. Oh shit. Lance thought he wouldn’t be doing the fall musical. He felt a giddiness rise up in his throat before he looked away quickly. The last thing he wanted to do was act creepy. 

Lance was an adult, yeah? He couldn’t stare at people no matter how much he admired them. Especially not when the two of them weren’t going to talk any time soon. He wasn’t sure what role Shiro had but he didn’t plan on talking to him other than what they needed for the musical. If he did he was scared that he would make a mess of himself. Not to mention there was the fact that Keith was his brother.

Ugh.

Screw him. The small conversations that the two of them had had were enough for Lance to know that he didn’t like Keith.

Lance got his attention back to focusing, writing down his name, email, and number on a clipboard that was being passed around. Apparently people didn’t write neat enough the first time around, so they didn’t get everyone’s information. Plus it helped take attendance. Once they were finished, they moved onto scheduling important dates to show up on and all that jazz. Lance stared at the paper that told him his required dates and wondered when they were doing the dancing.

When that was over with, the actual rehearsal began. The first thing they did? Go over the first song before they did anything else. The rest of the rehearsal was spent briefly going over some of the songs.

Really, there wasn’t a lot of things that happened, but at the end he couldn’t help but feel like this was going to be a fun time. Probably one of the best musicals he worked on, other than the one from his senior year in highschool. That definitely took the cake.

At the end, Lance waited for a few people to leave. He debated going up to Coran and Allura, wanting to talk to them, but Shiro and Keith were in some conversation with them. Shiro and Allura both looked happy and Coran just seemed entertained. Meanwhile, Keith looked bored, staring over their shoulder.

Lance decided that no, he shouldn’t go up and talk to them. Keith looked around him and saw Lance, but Lance just stared at him for a moment with Keith staring right back. They held eye contact for a minute before Lance left the auditorium. He didn’t notice that Keith followed behind him. 

It wasn’t until he was almost to the door that he finally noticed someone’s presence behind him. He looked behind him, seeing Keith. “Are you following me? That’s creepy, dude,” Lance mumbled, frowning at him.

“Yes, and it’s because I want to talk to you.” 

Lance stared at him for a moment as if he had suddenly grown two heads.

“Um, why?” He was perfectly content with hating Keith and leaving Keith alone while they coexisted in their little musical world. They didn’t need to talk outside of cast interactions. 

Keith looked at him now as if he was stupid, crossing his arms over his chest and putting all of his weight on one leg. “Because you seem to hate me. You declared me as your rival as soon as we met and I want to know why,” he stated, plain and simple.

“Oh! Where should I start? You have stupid hair and I’m totally at your level, if not better. I don’t understand the problem here.” Lance did not want to be talking to him. Keith let out an honest to God sigh and Lance glared a little at him.

“Can’t you at least play nice? If we’re going to be in a musical together I don’t need you acting like a dick, or something,” Keith snapped, glaring at him, and he felt a little bit weird about this now. Lance felt a sudden burning shame that he swallowed down and he hoped that Keith didn’t detect it on his face.

“Fine,” Lance agreed. “I’m leaving now.”

“Fine,” Keith echoed behind him. Lance just turned sharply on his heel and stomped off down the hall.


	5. ACT 1, SCENE 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is un-beta'd ao there might be mistakes  
> also, today marks this stories two month mark ! sorry there are breaks between updates recently, life has been rough

Lance strummed his fingers on his desk, sitting up a little straighter as his Calculus teacher droned on. It wasn’t as if Lance was bad at math, he was pretty good at math actually. He was an honors student in high school. It didn’t mean that he had to like it. Lance figured that he wouldn’t have to take a lot of math when he got to college, especially since he was going to be a theater major. But his school required at a math class, at least three hours worth of it or something like that.

To make his interest in math worse, his professor had the most boring, monotone voice in the world. When he mentioned his professor to any of his older friends, they all gave him looks of sympathy. Apparently he was only still teaching math because of tenure and there wasn’t any reason to fire him since the majority of people passed his classes. Even if everyone thought he was a dick.

Another terrible thing about this was that Keith was in his class. He didn’t seem to pay attention to it either, and he sat next to Lance. At least he didn’t ask Lance for notes constantly, which was good because the two of them still weren’t talking to each other unless they needed to talk to each other. Which was exactly what Lance wanted. Every now and then Lance would glance at him but he didn’t say anything to Keith, just focusing back up on the lesson that was going on.

Lance didn’t have rehearsal that night, and he didn’t think that Keith did either. But honestly he wasn’t even sure what character Keith was playing, not like he really cared anyways.

Since he had no rehearsal, Lance was going to go go to Pidge’s dorm with Hunk. Apparently there was some new cryptid show that Pidge really wanted to watch and Lance was happy to tag along, mainly because he knew there would be food but also because it was just nice to watch some cryptid things, even if he himself wasn’t all that interested in them. Pidge was so into the cryptids it was a bit strange but whatever, as long as his friends were happy.

It wasn’t like Lance was going to shoot down Pidge’s happiness. Even if she loved weird things like Bigfoot and wanted to make them visit famous cryptid sights one summer on a road trip (which, Pidge was reportedly planning at the moment, trying to figure out the cost). His friends put up with his interests (which were all very normal, thank you very much).

Lance shifted in his chair, it was one of those uncomfortable plastic ones that schools gave to students. As if having back-packs full of books wasn’t harsh enough on them. He glanced around before realizing he wasn’t in highschool and the professor couldn’t really take his phone away from him. It wasn’t like it was a crime for him to text in class, and again, he wasn’t in high school anymore.

Big Man hollerin’ to Hunk is the token Straight: Who’s bringing the snacks tonight

Lance clicked on the message, opening up Facebook Messenger.

Big Man: Also not to ditch you guys or anything but I might go over to Shay’s and cuddle or something  
Future Mr. Beyonce Knowles: i thought it was pidge since i mean, they’re the one hosting  
Future Mr. Beyonce Knowles: What The Hell Hunk?  
Smoll Anger: nah i have a friend who’s coming over who said he’ll bring snacks  
Smoll Anger: thats cool hunk  
Big Man: I have a cute girlfriend who wants to cuddle, Lance.  
Future Mr. Beyonce Knowles: :((( fine whoever pidge replaces you with will become my new bff

Future Mr. Beyonce Knowles changed Big Man’s nickname to Rude Boi

Smoll Anger: lmao  
Smoll Anger: it’s keith  
Rude Boi: Pidge No

At that, Lance almost slammed his phone down. Almost. But he didn’t want to draw attention to himself so he just turned and glared at Keith who seemed to be paying attention for once in class. That asshole was coming over? There was no way that Pidge was serious.

Future Mr. Beyonce Knowles changed Smoll Anger’s name to Traiter  
Future Mr. Beyonce Knowles changed the group’s name to Betrayal is the ugliest Sin

Traiter: you doculdn’t even spell my name right  
Traiter: couldn’t**  
Future Mr. Beyonce Knowles: >:(  
Traiter: Oh my god Lance  
Traiter: he said he’s bringing food  
Future Mr. Beyonce Knowles: >:/  
Traiter: don’t be whiny tonight  
Traiter: he likes cryptids and also apparently can not work technology so he can’t stream the premiere  
Future Mr. Beyonce Knowles: Fine

At that Lance put away his phone, trying not to focus on the fact that he had to deal with Keith now and he was going to have to deal with him later. He had a few hours after class that he could wind down and not bother with the thoughts of Keith and his stupid mullet and his stupid face, so he planned on doing that once he left.

Finally the class ended, and he rushed to his dorm where he could just chill for a while.

  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

 

When the time came for him to make his trek over to Pidge’s dorm, he hesitated. None of them lived in apartments which was convenient since they didn’t have to worry about driving all the way to somewhere else -- which honestly they would probably all live together when they moved out of the dorms.

But that was besides the point. Lance didn’t want to go and meet Keith there, but Pidge was looking forward to this and Hunk had already left to go to Shay’s home so it wasn’t like Lance could use him as back up. Lance tugged on his jacket and then pulled on his shoes. Even thought Keith was bringing food, Lance was bringing food too. He didn’t know if Keith knew how to snack properly, or knew what would be the best to munch on when they watched shows on cryptids.

Lance made his way over to Pidge’s dorm room, humming underneath his breath as he did. Pidge was in the gayest dorm section of their university, and everyone by now were used to seeing Lance so no one gave him a weird look as he entered the dorms.

He knocked on Pidge’s door. It didn’t take long for Pidge to open the door, she looked up at him. They were wearing cargo shorts as usual, and an oversized cryptid sweatshirt that Lance had gotten them for their birthday (he was planning on buying them little cryptid keychains this year throughout Hanukkah).

“Asshole,” Pidge greeted him and Lance gave them a charming smile.

“I have snacks,” he told her, offering her the plastic bag. Pidge looked it over.

“You know Keith brought food right?”

Lance shrugged, “Figured I might as well bring some of my own too.” Pidge stared at him for a moment, as if trying to figure out what he was planning exactly with this. After a moment of suspicious staring behind (fake, Pidge totally wore fakes ones) glasses, Pidge let him inside of her dorm.

Keith was already there, on the floor and curled up. He had discarded his stupid jacket, which was tossed on one of Pidge’s chairs. Keith looked up at him, “Hey.” And then looked away. Lance frowned but didn’t complain.

“Hey,” he said back. “When does the show start?” It was targeted at Pidge.

“Seven,” Keith answered and Lance made sure not to get angry over this. Instead he just nodded his head.

“Cool,” it was about five minutes till so the two had already set up the tv to the channel the show was going to play on. Pidge had taken Lance’s bag of snacks, Keith had apparently brought pizza. Lance settled in, taking off his own jacket. Pidge sat between him and Keith.

“Apparently the show is going to start off with the Jersey Devil,” Pidge looked at Keith who furrowed his brows.

“I haven’t heard a lot about the show, is it going to be international or is it just sticking with America? I know it’s going to be a documentary show like those alien ones,” Keith leaned back, crossing one of his legs over the other leg.

Pidge was working on opening a bag of chips, “I dunno. I think it might just focus on America.” When they got the bag open, the show actually began. Lance tried to pay attention to the actual show itself and not to the fact that Keith was in the same room as him with one of his best friends.

They were all quiet for a while before Pidge and Keith began to whisper to one another about what was going on. “They missed some of the details about the story,” Keith whispered, annoyed, to Pidge.

“At least they got the story right,” Pidge snorted. Keith huffed and focused back up on the show that was playing. Lance shifted how he sat, glancing at the two of them before just getting up and grabbing something to eat, feeling awkward with him just sitting there and hearing them whisper back and forth.

Lance knew about cryptids, Pidge had made him and Hunk watch multiple documentaries on several different cryptids. But it didn’t mean that he knew everything, and apparently he didn’t know as much as Keith. He sat back down, eating some of the pizza that Keith had brought.

The show was showing pictures of the alleged Jersey Devil that had been drawn from the 1800s. He thought it was the 1800s anyways. He hadn’t been paying attention as he got food. “Why did they show that picture? Everyone shows that picture,” Pidge grumbled. He noticed Keith nodding in agreement.

“At least they didn’t start to show off with Bigfoot.”

“Hey!” Pidge said indignantly, looking at Keith with furrowed eyebrows and a glare on their face. “What’s that supposed to me?”

Keith shrugged, “I mean every show starts off with Bigfoot. Bigfoot is the most popular cryptid, and I know it’s your favorite but come on. It’s interesting to see some of the other cryptids and to learn about them more.”

Pidge pinched their mouth together but didn’t say anything else. There wasn’t any anger steaming off of Pidge, it just seemed like there was some playful annoyance between the two of them. Lance didn’t say anything to the two of them, just eating and finishing the pizza.

Again, they all fell silent before the other two began to talk again about what the show was saying and whether or not it was accurate to the research that the two of them had done.

Lance, on the other hand, was just sitting there and listening to the two of them talk to each other. He felt left out of the loop, since it wasn’t like cryptids were his thing. He found them interesting, yes, but it wasn’t like he was so interesting in them that he could relate to Keith and Pidge.

He held back a sigh, and just watched the show. Glancing around, his eyes caught on a big, green plastic alien that Pidge had. He stood, grabbing it and bringing it over to where he sat. Pidge looked at him, but didn’t say anything as he basically cuddled the green alien.

Now Lance felt a little more like a third wheel. But it was too late. He couldn’t return the alien to it’s home. It was now part of his lonely viewing of the cryptid show, despite the other two there with him.

The alien plastic alien was now his best friend.


	6. ACT 1, SCENE 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey if anyone has like the script of cats or smth like that can you please send it to me? cause i wanna like actually write them rehearsing and stuff,,,

At some point that night, Lance fell asleep. The last thing that he remembered was this guy going on about the supposed attacks of the Jersey Devil, and how most of the evidence of one of the cases had been “destroyed”. That was the last thing that he remembered, he didn’t even notice when he had fallen asleep.

All he knew was that at three in the morning he woke up because someone had kicked him lightly. His face was stuck to a plastic alien and he looked up, sitting up slowly wondering when the hell he had fallen asleep and when it had become dark in the room. Lance also wondered who kicked him but that was erased out of his mind when he saw that no one was close enough to actually kick him. He looked over to Pidge, whose arm was thrown over their face, shirt riding up as they snored loudly.

It took a minute until his eyes adjusted to the darkness but he saw Keith curled up on Pidge’s bed, he slept funny, Lance noticed. At least he looked uncomfortable, as if he was only lightly sleeping. He was facing the door, and he had the thinnest blanket from what Lance could see covering his body. After a moment of staring and wondering, Lance got up and went towards the bed.

Pidge didn’t dorm alone, but Lance didn’t want to take one of their dorm mates pillows. He didn’t know them, and therefore Lance didn’t feel comfortable stealing a pillow from them. The alien wasn’t comfortable and Pidge seemed fine on Lance’s jacket (speaking of which, when had they taken the jacket from him?).

Lance tried to be as quiet as possible when he grabbed the pillow from the bed. Keith, unexpectedly, shot up and grabbed his wrist. Lance paused and stared at him, stifling a gasp from surprise. After his initial shock passed by, he looked shook his head and glared a little at Keith, snatching his wrist away from him. “What the hell?” He whispered angrily. Pidge was a heavy sleeper when they slept since they usually didn’t sleep.

“Were you pulling at my feet?” Keith asked him, and Lance noticed that his voice was deeper than usual, rough too. Lance tried to control his bisexual ass, Keith was a jerk and no matter what, Lance wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of his aversion from Keith.

“What? No, don’t tell me you’re the one that kicked me,” Lance huffed, stealing a pillow underneath Keith. Keith glared at him.

“I didn’t kick you, I’m not three years old,” Keith grabbed another pillow from the bed, curling up around it and then realized there was another one there that he grabbed and held it closely to himself like a dragon.

Lance glared at him, tempted to hit him with a pillow. “Sure, fine, you didn’t kick me and wake me up,” Lance wanted to go back to bed. He was so exhausted but also he couldn’t let shitty Keith win this argument. Whatever argument this was anyways. “It was just some ghost -- probably the Rake or something,” while he was totally aware that one of his best friends was really into and seriously into these stuff, he did not care that much for Keith.

“The Rake would have killed you if it was in this room, most people don’t survive interactions with it,” Keith scolded him and Lance felt the urge to roll his eyes so far back into his head.

“That’s besides my point, but whatever. I’m going back to bed,” Lance took the pillow that he had taken from Pidge’s bed and marched back over to his spot on the floor. He could feel Keith staring at him as he grabbed the alien and held it close to himself, lying his head down on the pillow. It was much better than sleeping on the plastic alien. There was probably a mark on his face from where he had been laying on it.

Lance closed his eyes, it didn’t take him very long until he fell back asleep.   
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
When he woke up later that morning it was because something tugged at his hair. Lance hissed, his eyes flying open. Usually nothing could wake him up but whoever pulled at his hair pulled it hard enough for his hair to hurt. His hand flew towards the back of his skull where the tug had been, and he opened his eyes to look around.

Pidge was sitting up, on her phone while she leaned against the bed. Keith was leaning over her shoulder and looking at whatever she was showing him on her phone. Pidge noticed that he was awake first, glancing over at him. “Good morning,” they greeted him.

“Did one of you pull my hair?” Lance asked, sitting up slowly with the pillow in his arms. The green alien was still lying next to him, smiling up at the ceiling as if it was in the most pleasant room in the world.

“No?” Pidge looked at him.

“He complained about someone kicking him last night,” Keith mumbled to them.

“And you had someone who kept pulling at your feet last night,” Lance retorted.

Pidge looked between the two of them, unsure what to say for a moment before their eyes seemed to light up. “You guys were both experiencing weird things last night?” They sat up straighter, placing their phone away from them. “I thought I was going crazy! So did my roommate honestly, but I’m happy to know that you guys experienced it too!”

Keith and Lance looked at each other, for once not looking in spite.

“Experienced what?” Lance asked Pidge, scooting closer to them and looking around them for his jacket. When he found it, he grabbed and pulled it on. It felt nice to have it on again, comforting like being hugged or something.

“The ghost! My dorm is totally haunted by something. I’m tempted to have a seance or something on Halloween,” Pidge shrugged.

Keith looked at Pidge as if they were crazy, “A seance, on Halloween? Are you crazy? You can’t do a seance in general, especially considering that we all know that anyone who touches an Ouija board will be cursed or there would be some crazy thing that happens to you and you’ll disappear.” Keith seemed to be scolding Pidge now.

“Yeah, that’s not a good idea. Ouija boards can fuck you up, I had a tia who used one once. Apparently, according to my abuela, she played it one night with a few of her friends. They managed to bring something evil into the world, and then the next thing they knew they were haunted. My tia constantly experienced strange phenomena, developing an aversion to all things Holy,” Lance gestured with his hands. “That’s as much as I know though, my tia died when I was younger and my abuela, she refuses to talk about it.”

Keith was staring at him, shifting forward now and looking at him intensely. Lance wasn’t sure how he felt about. “I’m pretty sure all of that is some lie you’re grandma just told you so you wouldn’t mess around with that stuff. Didn’t you say she was also incredibly Catholic and erases your bisexuality?” Pidge blinked at him.

Lance sighed, “Okay yeah she does but it doesn't mean she’s lying about anything. Aside from her… issues, she doesn’t lie about that type of stuff.” Lance knew that his grandmother didn’t lie about the supernatural. Some stories told by his tios and his primos were a different story, since he knew some of them were faked.

“I don’t know, I believe it. We all know that Ouija boards are dangerous and there’s multiple cases of them affecting people negatively,” Keith was vouching for him and Lance looked at him surprised.

Pidge let out a loud sigh, “Fine. I guess I won’t do it.”

“Good.”

“But maybe I will if you want to be here? I mean you can do some protection stuff if you want,” Lance’s family dabbled in Santeria but he wasn’t necessarily someone who practiced it himself.

“Um, no? I’m not going anywhere near those things, whoever created them was some kind of monster,” Lance rolled his eyes as he looked at Pidge. Pidge seemed ready to whine but they collected themselves. They didn’t press the issue further, much to Lance’s relief, and instead just settled back into their bed.

There was silence between the three in the room before Lance stood up. His knees popped as he did and he stretched, feeling the rest of his back pop too. “Well, I’m going to clean up whatever stuff I brought and then go home. We have rehearsal at 12,” it was about 10 and it wasn’t going to take Lance very long. He didn’t know about Keith though.

“I know,” Keith mumbled from behind him while Lance picked his stuff up.

When he was done he went towards the door, “See you later Pidge,” he waved good-bye at his friend.

“See you, Lance,” Pidge waved back at him and Lance left the room.   
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
When he got to his dorm he placed his stuff into the counters and grabbed clothing to go and shower. Hunk had been home but the guy had early morning classes for some reason, so he was gone by the time that he had gotten home. Lance took a quick shower, quick enough for him to get rid of any sticky feeling that might be underneath his skin from the less-than comfortable sleep that he had gotten.

Once he finished showering, there was a few minutes until Lance had to leave. He decided to leave anyways, preferring to be early rather than late.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
It didn’t take him long at all to get to the auditorium, and he wasn’t the only one there. Keith was there, in less rumpled clothing than he was when Lance had last saw him. Lance wondered if he should approach him or not. He debated going to over to him and thanking him for earlier but it hadn’t been a big deal.

Lance wondered if he shouldn’t be so rude to Keith in general, and then realized that he was being ridiculous. Just the other day they had agreed to not talk to each other unless it was need. And right now it wasn’t need. Did their character’s even interact with one another? Lance didn’t even know what character Keith played, which was a bad thing since he knew basically everyone else’s role, even the minors one.

He suddenly felt guilty in his chest, pressing his hand against his heart as if he was feeling it beat for the first time. Weird. Okay, it was no big deal he wasn’t doing anything. But Keith did look lonely, sitting by himself. Lance guessed that he didn’t look any better since he was by himself too. He just settled into one of the auditorium chairs and waited for rehearsal to actually begin.

They were apparently going over scenes that day that included everyone, so everyone should be there soon. Lance kept looking at Keith though and now it was bugging him. Eventually he decided that it was enough, standing up and walking over to Keith.

Keith looked at him, but didn’t say anything for a moment. He looked confused as to what Lance was doing. Lance sat down in the chair next to him, crossing his arms over his chest. Keith didn’t say anything to him and Lance didn’t say anything to him either.

Allura and Coran walked in, Coran messing around with his mustache as usual. There was still a few minutes until rehearsal started so they all sat around, talking. Except for Keith and Lance.

But honestly, Lance was okay with the silence between the two of them. He didn’t want to talk about anything since they had nothing to talk about. Except for who Keith played, which he still didn’t know. But he would find out soon wouldn’t he? After all, it was only their second rehearsal together.   
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
Apparently Keith played Tugger.

Lance wasn’t sure how he felt about that.


	7. ACT I, SCENE 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Primarily filler also ppl with names are other Voltron characters from former series

So, after Pidge’s little sleepover, things had been weird. For one thing, Lance and Keith weren’t giving each other the cold shoulder anymore. They weren’t 100% friendly, but it wasn’t as if they were being blatantly rude to each other. Another thing was the fact that they could officially hang out now without butting heads too much, which seemed to make Pidge relieved since it meant that they could drag Lance and Hunk along whenever they and Keith didn’t want to go and do spooky things alone.

  
It wasn’t as if he and Keith were friends; they were still pretty far from that word, but Allura seemed more satisfied with their work during rehearsal. They saw her smiling whenever they were actually able to cooperate instead of just glaring at each other (while attempting to get their lines done properly, at least Lance was able to say that Rum Tum Tugger was a ‘terrible bore’ without any issue -- the line was usually reserved for Mistoffelees. However, Allura apparently liked the way Lance said it as Alonzo).

  
Their characters didn’t really have a lot of interaction with each other, which wasn’t anything too bad. Alonzo was essentially just a dancer. He sung now and then, but dancing was the main thing (and also he was arguably the best out of all the ensemble toms, but that was just Lance’s opinion). Rum Tum Tugger, on the other hand, was literally the epitome of swag and sex appeal. The whole point of his character was to be like Elvis -- although the current Broadway revival didn’t seem to understand that.

  
Seeing Keith being able to properly portray that was kind of… amazing, Lance had to admit it. Keith wasn’t necessarily any of those things. Yes, he was attractive, but it wasn’t as if he was the embodiment of swagger and looked like he should be making those hip motions, but there he was, doing just that.

  
It was pretty cool. Of course, it didn’t mean that Lance wasn’t lowkey jealous of the fact that Keith was playing one of the most well-known and popular cats. So, naturally Lance was a little jealous, but being Alonzo was honestly a lot of fun.

  
Especially since at the moment they were choreographing Macavity's escape.

  
The actor playing Macavity was this pretty large guy who had no issue hoisting Lance onto his back and swinging him around. Apparently the actor was trained in ballet, which made total sense seeing as basically everyone there was trained in some kind of dance form.

  
Lance tried to focus on the fight/dance but he saw Allura lean over and whisper to the dance director, who clapped their hands. “Alright guys, we’re taking it back from the top with Macavity’s reveal!” Everyone on stage looked at them for a moment before getting back into position. A few people were in the audience, quietly going over lines with one another as they waited for the scenes that they were in.

  
At the director's cue, the actress of Demeter jumped onto the back of Macavity, unmasking him from his disguise of Old Deuteronomy (who was played by one of his professors, actually). Lance watched as the actor of Munkustrap jumped in, attempting to grab Demeter from the actor of Macavity, the two of them having a sort of tug of war before Lance slid in, grabbing the actress by her waist gingerly. He lifted her above his head, carrying her off upstage right before setting her down and letting the actress rejoin the other queen actresses.

  
The scene with Munkustrap and Macavity went fluidly, with the actor of Munkustrap landing his small flip perfectly and landing exactly where he needed, while the others came in and pretended to nuzzle him.

  
Lance jumped towards Macavity after Munkustrap landed, pretending to fight him. The actor picked him up and all things were going perfectly well as Lance prepared to make his small roll off of his back and onto the floor again. He waited for his cue, but then the actor stumbled and Lance was dropped. Both of them had landed on the floor, and he winced a little at the surprise of being dropped.

  
There was a small ripple of gasps as Lance sat up, feeling a little dazed from the impact. Shiro, who played Munkustrap, offered him a hand up and Lance took it, feeling strangely honored despite that fact he had had a sleepover with Shiro’s younger brother. Lance was still amazed that he even got to work with him.

  
“Are you two okay?” Allura’s voice brought him back into focus and he grinned at the student director, giving her a small thumbs up.

  
“I’m fine!” Lance was probably bruised, but it was better than him actually being seriously injured. “It wasn’t that far of a fall.” The other actor was tall, but it wasn’t as if Lance wasn’t used to being dropped.

  
Allura seemed relieved by this. “And what about you, Sven?” Allura asked, referring to the actor of Macavity, who rolled his shoulders.

  
“I’m fine. I almost twisted my ankle there, but I managed to save myself in time,” Sven admitted.

  
“Good,” Allura murmured, nodding at that. She seemed relieved to know that neither of them were seriously hurt. She glanced over at the dance director, Jeff, who leaned over to whisper in her ear. She whispered back to him and he frowned.

  
“Back to where Lance comes in. Sven, watch your feet. This is a pivotal moment in the musical. This fight is important and we don’t need you messing it up.” It wasn’t the first time that Jeff looked ready to blow up at them. Lance wondered how many times he had lost his temper during productions.

  
Everyone got together in the right positions. They started again from when Lance came in for the second time, but this time it happened smoothly and he was relieved he made it through without getting dropped. Jeff made them go over the entire scene over and over again until the redness in his face had gone down a bit and he seemed satisfied with their work. Lance’s muscles were complaining from being stretched and his hands were red from when he handed wrong a few other times. It was all coming together rather quickly, even it felt as if it was taking forever.

  
“Let’s work on act one, starting from scene five with Jennyanydots, Munkustrap, Bombalurina, Jellylorum, and Demeter,” Jeff called out, meaning that Lance and a few others got to sat down. When he did he almost sunk into his chair, checking his phone and noticing that he had been added to a new group chat that included Keith this time.

  
It wasn’t blowing up much, so Lance just tucked his phone back into his back pocket, lifting his feet up and watching the actors on stage. Someone sat down next to him but he didn’t pay them much mind other than glancing at him and then looking at the stage again.

  
“Hey.”

  
The person next to him leaned over to him and Lance game them his full attention. He recognized the actor as the guy who play Mistoffelees. A slim dude named Daniel, he was a little shorter than the majority of the cast, even in height with some of the girls in the musical.

  
“Hey,” Lance greeted him, settling into his chair.

  
“Are you sure you’re okay? After that fall and everything,” Daniel asked, furrowing his brows. Lance had the temptation to poke the spot in between them.

  
“What? That? Psh, it was no big deal. I can handle far worse. I’m basically made out of steel,” Lance bragged, placing his hand upon his chest.

  
Daniel seemed a little bit amused by this, raising his eyebrow at Lance. “How many times have you been dropped before?” Lance had seen this guy either arguing or flirting with every member of the cast so far, and he seemed to enjoy stepping on Keith’s toes, especially. Which was funny, seeing as their two characters seemed to get on pretty well aside from the occasional misstep. But this was a musical, after all, and their characters weren’t necessarily a reflection of their personalities.

  
“Oh, just a few times here and there. About the normal amount,” Lance said easily. He was, surprisingly, not used to getting flirted with. All he did was flirt with people, maybe make them laugh or smile a little bit, but he wasn’t used to someone actually flirting with him back. So he wasn’t really sure how to interpret Daniel at the moment. It was totally possible that Daniel was just one of those people that everyone thought was flirting, but he was actually just talking like a normal person.

  
Daniel seemed to get closer and Lance was now really unsure what to do, so he just sort of sat there, looking at him. “You know, I might be small but I’m pretty sure I can break your falls,” Daniel mused, winking at him. That was definitely flirting. Lance just stared, positive that he was making the worst face in the world.

  
He was incredibly unsure as to how to react to this, so he just floundered until he thought of an excuse, mumbling something about having a friend who needed him. Lance was sure that he was blushing. The flirting wasn’t even that extreme and he was already backing out of it. Lance got up and scuttled over to where some girls were seated, noting how one of them looked at him for a moment but didn’t say anything, then went on continuing with her conversation with one of the ensemble girls.

  
Lance didn’t really know the two of them that well but it was better than him having to get teased back over there (he knew that logically it wasn’t something mean, however Lance was really unused to people flirting with him and people actually wanting to like him, which just made him unsure in the whole romance department in general). He leaned forward and rested his head on the back of the seat in front of him, listening to Jeff call out time signatures as everyone who was on staged repeated the choreography over and over again, like Jeff and every other dance director made them do.

  
Hunk had sent him a message privately and Lance read it, unsure how to respond.

  
The Hunkiest: do you think that some foods have feelings  
Hips don’t lie: are you high?????  
The Hunkiest: no i just ate a chicken burrito and i felt bad for the chicken like what if it had feelings and what if it misses it’s eggs or something?  
Hips don’t lie: i don’t think they kill chickens who lay eggs?  
The Hunkiest: i’m going to look this up it’s driving me crazy  
The Hunkiest: aren’t you supposed to be rehearsing  
Hips don’t lie: i’m not needed at the moment so no

  
After that Hunk didn’t respond, so he guessed that he got busy reading about chickens and whether or not they felt emotions like humans do. Lance knew that even with his research he wouldn’t become a vegetarian. Hunk just liked to cook too much and he enjoyed cooking everything that he possibly could.

  
Lance leaned back, focusing on what was going on in the scene in front of him. Apparently, Shiro had lost his shirt in the time between Lance texting Hunk and Lance looking back on the stage. Demeter had also lost her shirt, dancing in just her sports bra and a pair of tights.

  
Lance didn’t think that they were going to rehearse anymore of his scenes today, but now he was stuck there until he could catch the attention of one of the directors to leave. Lance closed his eyes a little bit and let out a small sigh. He could just hang out until he had the chance to leave. Opening his eyes again, he figured that it wasn’t that bad that he couldn’t leave right away.

  
Everyone’s dance moves were still a little unsure when it came to one section of the song, but they were all into it and it was nice to see them being able to enjoy themselves.

  
Lance supposed that it was ten times better than being stuck in some place miserable like the DMV.

  
Or the post office. 


	8. ACT 1, SCENE 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is a day late!!! happy (belated) thanksgiving to those who celebratre

Lance was exhausted, like, constantly. He hadn’t been in a production since senior year of high school, and that felt like it was so long ago. It wasn’t as if he was needed incredibly often since his character was more in the background than anything else, but he couldn’t help but still be exhausted.

  
At least there wasn’t as much petty drama when it came to this production. His last one was full of drama and honestly, he blamed it on that one freshman (who was a sophmore now) who was just so… controlling.

  
Things didn’t change much from college to high school, though. Sure, the location changed, he didn't live with his parents, he had to deal with the majority of his situations alone, and he had to be an adult now, but things hadn’t changed by much. He still had time to hang out with his friends and see movies with them. Technically for Hunk and Shay it was a date, with some added guests into the mix.

  
That wouldn’t be awkward though, right? Nah, knowing Hunk it would probably less awkward for him like this since the relationship was still in the process of budding. Thinking about them made him realize that he had been standing around for a long time.

  
Lance looked around and saw no one that he knew walking around. Originally Lance had waited inside, but after a while of no one coming to the place, he went outside so that he could see them.

  
Lance ran a hand through his hair, leaning back and wondering when his friends were going to show up and why didn’t he just agree to meet them all at his place. Hunk and him shared a room, Pidge knew where it was, and if Keith didn’t know then he could have just texted Pidge or met up with Pidge first, since the two of them were slowly becoming best friends (and no, it didn’t bother Lance to know that Pidge was branching out from their high school group like it didn’t bother him that Hunk was doing the same).

  
It was slow to get cold where they were. Garrison Magnet School for the Arts (or GMSA) was close to the desert for whatever reason, he didn’t know why they decided to build it out here but it worked for him. Lance didn't do cold weather, and it was a little ways from his home but he was fine with that.

  
He was still freezing, even though the coldness was creeping up on them slowly. He was thankful that he was wearing his usual jacket. It was nice and pretty thick, so he could technically overheat in this weather but since he wasn’t used to the cold, he doubted that that would happen easy for him. Plus the wind chill was just making everything colder for him.

  
At least he had chosen a school that wasn’t closer to the north or anything like that.

  
They were about a month and a half into school, and honestly Lance was enjoying himself. “I would be enjoying myself more if my friends would show up,” he murmured to himself. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heals, unable to stand still for even just one second.

  
Allura constantly got on his ass about that since he tended to pace on stage which was a huge no-no; Lance knew that he had a problem with that. Which was why he guessed it was good that he was a lead ensemble dancer since he was dancing the majority of the time. Still, he paced constantly and it was a terrible thing to do.

  
“Lance!” At the sound of his name, Lance look towards the source of noise and wasn’t surprised to see Hunk with Shay, Pidge, and Keith, but he was surprised to see Shiro (he wondered where Matt was for a second before remembering Pidge mentioning his volunteering schedule a while back). He blinked for a moment and then shook off the initial shock and told himself quietly that he would not embarrass himself in front of Shiro or Shay since Shiro was incredibly cool, and also because Shay seemed like the type who got second hand embarrassment, or something.

  
“Hey!” He waved at them, joining his friends (and others). “I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to do my own version of the walk of shame.” Lance grinned at them and Pidge stared at him for a full minute.

  
“We were looking for you,” Pidge told Lance, furrowing their eyebrows at him. Lance made the same face.

  
“Didn’t you tell me we were meeting up here…?” Lance asked, confused.

  
“Dude, we were meeting up at that one cafe that’s constantly full of people that you think stepped out of some kind of cheesy romance novel.” Hunk gestured with his free hand; one of his was holding Shay’s hand.

  
Lance pulled up his phone. “But the text reads Balmera though.” He stopped, looking at it closely and felt a red heat crawling down from his neck to his neck. “Oh.”

  
Pidge took his phone from him. “I can see why you misread that, there is a spelling error. Which probably didn’t help you at all.”

  
“Yep.” Lance took his phone back and placed his phone in his back pocket, rubbing the back of his neck and ignoring the fact that Shay, Keith, and Shiro were all looking at him with similar confused expressions. “Should we just get going now then?”

  
Step one: Don’t embarrass himself.

  
Lance already failed step one.

  
“Yeah, sure, the movie is going to start soon anyways,” Hunk said, taking the lead with Shay, the two of them talking to each other quietly as they walked in front of the rest. Lance followed after them and Pidge placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t worry about it, dude, I should’ve noticed the typo and sent you a clear and cut version.”

  
“Nah, I’m not worrying about it. It doesn’t matter anyways, it happens all of the time,” Lance replied, shrugging, honestly surprised that he was still able to tell his left from his right (improvement was key, also all those dance lessons did help after all). “Well, not really. It’s not as often as it was in like early high school years, but like it still happens, it’s just part of the whole deal.” He was rambling just a little bit.

  
“I’m still the hottest thing on the block though,” Lance added, and smirked at Pidge, who rolled their eyes.

  
“Really? Because it seems like the block is pretty cold right now.” That was incredibly corny, but Lance still tossed Keith a small glare. At least he didn’t bring up the fact that Lance had gotten the address wrong. He would rather take the little poking fun rather than actual lowkey bullying.

  
“Please, I put the sexy in dyslexia,” Lance chirped, smirking at Keith. Keith just blinked owlishly at him.

  
“That’s not how dyslexia is spelled,” Shiro said slowly, clearly unsure if he had the right to say anything like that.

  
Lance paused for a moment. “Oh shit, yeah you’re right.” He nodded his head. “But still, if it was spelled that way,” Lance amended, giving them a grin. He was returned with blank stares for the most part. Shiro looked a little amused while Keith just looked even more confused. Lance whistled the rest of the way to the movie theater. Thankfully, the closest movie theater was only a few blocks away. He was pretty sure that none of them had cars, except Shiro.

  
That was besides the point.

  
When they got to the movie theater, Shiro turned to them all. “This is a movie theater where you reserve the seats right?” Shiro asked and Pidge nodded.

  
“Yeah.” She was handing money over to Keith, who Lance guessed had bought them the tickets. He searched his pockets for his wallet.

  
“How much was the ticket?” He looked down at Keith, still very proud of the fact that he was just a little bit taller than Keith. It wasn’t by a lot but Keith had to look up to stare at him and Lance had to look down.

  
“Thirteen, it’s the matinee so it wasn’t that expensive.” Keith shrugged, handing him his ticket. Lance looked down at it, surprised to see that Keith had actually chosen good seats. At least from what he knew. He had only been to a theater like this a few times but he was going to assume that Keith knew what he was doing when he bought the tickets.

  
Lance nodded in understanding, handing over his thirteen dollars to Keith. “Are we going to share snacks?” He looked at the others.

  
“There’s six of us, so I guess we can get three popcorns for two of us to share,” Pidge told them. They all looked at each other before nodding in quiet agreeance. “Alright cool.” Pidge went to stand in line and the rest of the group followed. Lance kept glancing at his ticket, afraid that he was going to lose it.

  
“Hey, Keith,” Lance spoke up, looking over at Keith. “Thanks for getting the tickets. Who’s next to me?” The last part was a general question and everyone looked at their tickets.

  
“You have 13, right?”

  
Lance checked his ticket to make sure and nodded his head. “Yeah.”

  
“Then I’m next to you, since you’re at the end of our little group,” Keith told him. He paused for a moment and wondered if this was going to be a disaster or not. He hoped not, since he doubted that Keith was going to pick a fight with him in the middle of a movie. “We can switch tickets if you want,” Keith added, raising an eyebrow at him.

  
“No, no it’s fine. I won’t mind sharing popcorn with you, as long as the mullet hair doesn’t get into it.” Lance waved him off and moved up in the line. Keith was standing behind him and he didn’t catch his expression. He heard Shiro and him talking behind him in the line and he looked at Pidge, who was busy glaring at the menu.

  
When it was his turn, Lance got the popcorn and ordered some of those pretzel bite things for himself, and a small soda.

  
It didn’t take them much longer to grab the rest of their stuff and they all headed towards the actual theater. He made Keith carry the popcorn since he had only the soda in his hand. Keith didn’t complain, to his surprise, and he just carried the popcorn into the theater, following after Lance.

  
It took them a small minute to figure out how to rearrange themselves, but once they were sure that they were settled in the right seats, Lance got comfortable. Honestly, he hadn’t been as loud as he could have been this entire time. That was a good thing, wasn’t it? The previews had already started by the time that they had settled in and there weren’t a whole lot of people at the theater. Lance guessed since it was the matinee that a lot of people were busy.

  
But it was the weekend in a college town, so that was still weird to him that it was so empty, even though there were still plenty of people there.

  
Lance shrugged the thought away. It wasn’t any of his business what other people were up to. He just settled down into the recliner chair and watched the previews, noticing that Keith was staring at him. He looked back, leaning over to him. “What are you staring at?” He whispered to him.

  
There was a brief pause. “Can I have one of the pretzel bites?” Lance wanted to snipe back at him, asking him why he didn’t get his own when he had the chance. He held himself back though, just sliding them over to Keith.

  
“Sure,” he whispered back. Keith looked momentarily surprised and took one. Lance settled back in as the movie began.

  
There were no comments passed between him and Keith the entire time, as opposed to if he were to sit next to Hunk. Lance figured that in that way, it was a good thing that he was sitting next to Keith as opposed to anyone else since it meant that he didn’t need to annoy anyone around them with his constant talking. He felt a little awkward that he wasn’t talking, though, but Keith didn’t even lean over and talk to Shiro or Pidge.

  
He guessed that Keith wasn’t the type to talk in movie theaters, since he knew that Keith talked during the cryptid thing.

  
Lance couldn’t really focus on the movie, shifting around constantly. He hadn’t picked the movie out but he had lost in terms of votes so he couldn’t complain. And it wasn’t a bad movie, but he couldn’t get comfortable despite the recliner chairs. After a few more minutes of shifting around, he handed Keith the pretzel bites. “I’m going to to the bathroom,” he told Keith, so he wasn’t just randomly leaving.

  
He was at the end of the row so he didn’t need to struggle to get out.

  
Lance found his way to the bathroom. Being in the bright fluorescent lights was actually kind of nice, he ran a hand through his hair again before he used the bathroom. When he was done he washed his hands quickly and made his way back to the theater. Before he went in, he hesitated.

  
He was having fun that day, but he was just weird that day also. It wasn’t like he was going to abandon everyone in the theater and not come back, but he couldn’t help but feel awkward.

  
Maybe it was because both Hunk and Pidge were easily talking to other people and gaining more and more friends. And yeah, sure, Lance was talking to people, but he didn’t really consider them to be friends. They didn’t talk often and they didn’t hang out either. They were just people from his classes that he texted now and then if he missed anything.

  
There was Nyma, but he didn’t really consider her to be a friend. There was also Daniel, but he wasn’t much of a friend either, even if Lance no longer felt a little bit uncomfortable by the fact that he was flirting with him constantly.

  
Lance moved to head back inside when the door opened in front of him.

  
“Oh, hey,” Lance greeted Keith.

  
“You were taking a long time so I got sent to check up on you,” Keith told him without Lance even asking him what was going on. He looked Lance up and down. “Are you okay?”

  
“I’m perfectly fine, why wouldn’t I be okay?” Lance met Keith’s stare, the other was frowning just a little and his eyebrows were a little bit furrowed. “Well, I’m going back inside. No need to check up on me.” Lance gestured with his hands, giving Keith a small smile. “Come on.” Keith was staring at him but moved out of the way to let Lance back inside.

  
They both got back to their seats and they didn’t speak for the rest of the movie, just watching it silently and sharing the popcorn like they had been previous to Lance leaving to go and use the bathroom.

  
This time around, Lance was able to focus on the movie. It honestly wasn’t that bad, so it wasn’t as if Lance was hating the movie that they were watching.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
After the movie was over, Lance decided to keep the popcorn (with Keith’s permission).

  
“I think Matt should be home by now, I can text him and see if he wants to hang out with all of us. We can find something to do, I’m sure,” Shiro suggested, smiling at them. At the mention of their brother, Pidge’s eyes lit up.

  
“If I text him too we might win. Peer pressure, right?” They grinned, the little shit that they were.

  
Lance looked at the two of them before rubbing the back of his neck. “I think I’m going to go home, actually. I have a lot of work to do,” Lance lied. Really, he just felt off now. He felt as if he didn’t really fit in at the moment. Keith was staring at him again and Lance felt a little bit unsettled.

  
“What class do you have work for? I’m sure that you don’t need to do it straight away,” Keith countered, placing his hands in his pockets.

  
“Um,” Lance ran through his classes through his head. “My American Cultures class has a small project to do, and I want to get it done early.” That was also a lie.

  
“If it’s small, I’m sure it can wait. Hang out with us man,” Hunk chimed in, smiling at him.

  
“Nah, better get it done quick. I’ll text you guys or something, don’t worry about me.” Lance smiled at them. “I’ll see you at the dorm,” he said, looking over at Hunk. “Lance, out.” He gave them a casual finger gun and winked before walking away from the group.

  
It didn’t take him long to get to the dorm room and once there he placed the popcorn on the counter. Lance shrugged off his jacket and flopped face first on his bed.

  
His phone buzzed once, then a second time.

  
Mullet man: are you okay????  
Mullet man: you’re being kinda weird  
Lankira: just fine ! don’t worry your pretty little mullet over me, i have work to do

  
Having Keith text him was weird, but Lance ignored it, placing his phone face down on the bed. Tossing his arm over his eyes made him realize he suddenly felt ten times more exhausted.

  
He guessed he could just nap. A nap wouldn’t be bad at all. His phone buzzed again and he checked it, seeing that it was from Keith. Again.

  
Mullet man: i know you don’t have a project due  
Mullet man: i’ll leave you alone though, sorry if i made you uncomfortable or something

  
Nothing Keith had done had made him uncomfortable, other than the staring. But he ignored that, and he ignored the messages.

  
Lance just took his nap.


	9. ACT 1, SCENE 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is unbeta'd please point out any mistakes

Lance wasn’t unused to sudden shifts in his moods due to the amount of stress in his life. When he was younger he had to deal with the stress of his family finance’s, his hobbies, school, and anything else that he was supposed to be concerned with and then some. So naturally Lance had dips in his moods because of that buckling amount of stress.

  
His life was a bit less stressful in college, mainly because he felt ten times more free. But things had shifted. There was a new dynamic between him, Hunk and Pidge that wasn’t there in high school. Lance of course tried not to let his own mood shift show, and of course he did let it show because sometimes he was a terrible liar. But he was not letting it interfere with his rehearsal. The show had to go on and there was nothing stopping him from that.

  
Since he wasn’t a main character, his side of things had been slow lately when it came to rehearsal. The majority of the company was there the entire musical so it wasn’t as if Lance wasn’t in a lot of scenes. But when it came to huge scenes where they needed two or three characters he wasn’t needed.

  
Allura apparently decided to have a week to dedicate to the more important scenes in the musical. Which he didn’t really mind since they needed a lot of work. It just meant that he had more time to do his work (which wasn’t a bad thing) and a lot of time to sleep. Sleeping was something that he had been doing a lot of but he slept a lot always and forever.

  
“Lance? Dude,” Hunk had pulled out his headphone and nudged him. Lance opened his eyes, looking at him.

  
“What’s up?” Lance sat up, pausing his tunes.

  
“You’re listening to vaporwave,” Hunk sounded amused as he looked at Lance’s phone. “Also, Shay was wondering if you and the others want to go to Oktoberfest. I mean, it’s not like we can drink there -- well Shiro and Matt can -- but still, there’ll be food and it should be fun,” Hunk offered.

  
Lance considered this. “What time and when we would be going? I’m free from rehearsal all week since we’re not doing any of the full cast scenes, well wait, no,” Lance checked his phone. “Okay I have to go in on Sunday but that’s technically next week anyways.” Lance looked at his best friend.

  
“Sweet! Does Saturday sound good to you?” Hunk was grinning ear to ear and Lance felt a spike of joy. Okat so things have changed. People grew up and that was probably what was causing the rift between them. But they were still friends and he was sure that Hunk wouldn’t just abandon him.

  
Although it was hard to abandon someone who you lived with.

  
“Saturday works just fine. Do you want me to paint you nails? Your cuticles look bad,” Lance reached forward and grabbed Hunk’s hand with a small frown on his face. “Also I think I have some more of that face mask laying around somewhere, if you want that,” he looked at Hunk this time.

  
“I’m good without the face mask but paint my nails and I’ll paint yours,” Hunk sat down on the bed. Lance gave him a small smirk of satisfaction of actually doing something just with the two of them. It felt like years (even if they did live together). Lance was probably being over dramatic, which was why he wasn’t saying anything to Hunk about all of this.

  
“What color? I was thinking blue for me but what about you?” lance brought out the few bottles that he had.

  
“Let’s go with the usual yellow, it compliments my eyes,” Hunk looked like a cat, smiling as he pretended to fawn over the color. Lance huffed out a laugh, grabbing the yellow nailpolish, he shook it a little bit before grabbing Hunk’s hand. Lance realized that he should make sure that his nails were actually healthy before he painted them. When he finished making them look nice again he actually began to paint them.

  
Lance was slow and careful as he painted his nails, and Hunk mindlessly chattered on about something. He enjoyed the noise and the process of painting his nails.

  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
“Hunk you missed like half of the nail just now, it’s all on my finger itself.”

  
“Maybe I wouldn’t have missed it if you didn’t get so into Gasolina.”

  
“Don’t blame this on a gift from the heavens!”  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
When Saturday came around, Lance was actually excited. He felt pretty good, or maybe it was the fact that one of his fingers was sparkly. It was actually October when their town decided to throw their Oktoberfest. Usually, at least in Lance’s experience, they were at the end of September but he guessed that they decided that making it in actual October was a better deal for them.

  
Lance didn’t mind that, but he was incredibly cold because of this. This state wasn’t even supposed to be that cold. Lance shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, looking around with Hunk and Shay. “So we’re taking the bus right?” Lance asked Hunk, double checking with the plan.

  
“The majority of us are, yeah. I think Keith has a motorcycle though,” Hunk shrugged.

  
“Figures,” Lance let out a small little puff of exasperation. “Of course someone with a mullet has a motorcycle,” Hunk actually laughed at that although it sounded as if it was teetering on the edge of exasperation. “I’m serious he still lives in the ‘80s.”

  
“You dress like you’re from the ‘70s, Lance,” Shay’s soft voice startled him a little bit. He looked at Hunk and then at here.

  
“Where's your proof?”

  
“Oh well, Hunk sent me -- “

  
“I didn’t send her anything!” Hunk essentially squeaked out. He looked at Lance and at Shay who after a moment of silence just looked at him. Lance grumbled under his breath and was just relieved when the bus finally made its way in front of them. They climbed on and Lance was glad to know that it was heated. He leaned back in his seat while Shay and Hunk whispered to themselves.

  
Lance glanced at them every now and then, wondering what he should say to them. If he should say anything at all. Shay and Hunk looked so happy, although Shay was pretty quiet he did like talking to her the few times she spoke up to him. It was clear that she was more comfortable with Hunk and it was so nice to see Hunk enjoying himself. Lance looked at his phone and decided that to just listen to some music, blaring the music as loud as he could without disturbing anyone else.

  
“Where are we getting off at?” Lance turned around to talk to Hunk, who pulled his attention from something that Shay was showing him on her phone.

  
“We’re getting off at Main and 8th,” Hunk told him. Lance nodded his head and returned to listening to loud music.

  
The college wasn’t far away from everything, the town was large so it still took them about thirty minutes before they reached where they needed to go. Main was crosstown from where the college was since it was made first, it was where the first church was too (it was still in use as far as Lance knew, and it wasn’t the prettiest church around but it could be considered a historical landmark).

  
Lance lost track of time, they reached it sooner than he thought and Hunk pulled the car. They got off of the bus, Lance following Hunk the entire time. “Are we meeting them by the entrance?” Shay asked Hunk, the two of them were holding hands and it was probably the cutest thing that Lance had seen in awhile. He felt like a third wheel, but it was fine. Lance was fine.

  
“Yeah, I think everyone is already there,” Hunk told her. Pidge had probably gotten a ride from Matt or Shiro, he wasn’t sure which one of them actually had a car. Lance trailed behind Hunk and Shay. It didn’t take them long to find the rest since Pidge and Matt were pretty loud when they were together. Matt kept trying to pick up his shorter sibling, Pidge of course was moving around and squirming. She was yelling about something that he couldn’t really hear other than for Matt’s name.

  
“What the fuck is a gremlin doing here!?” Lance shouted as he approached the group with Hunk and Shay. A dad passing him nearby with his children gave him a dirty look and Lance gave him an apologetic smile.

  
“I don’t know, someone take him home,” Pidge wormed their way out of their brothers gasp. Matt looked offended, placing his hand on his chest. She tossed Shiro a dirty look, as if blaming him for her brother being there. Shiro just gave her a fond smile in response, looking at Matt with an even fonder smile that made Lance’s heart ache.

  
Keith looked at Lance for what felt like way to long but neither of them said anything to each other. “Are you guys ready to go inside now?” Keith spoke up and the rest nodded their heads. “People who can actually drink legally go over there,” Keith pointed with his arms. The only two that could drink were Shiro and Matt, who were more than happy to go on that side.

  
“Wait, Shiro’s drinking?” Pidge looked up at Keith.

  
“No, I think he’s the designated driver for Matt. I think he’s just grabbing some tokens just in case Matt runs out or something. Or maybe he’s actually going to be irresponsible for once and have a single drink but I doubt it,” Keith shrugged. “He probably won’t even get me a drink if I ask him.”

  
Lance wrapped an arm around Keith, grateful that the mullet boy was a little shorter than him. So it was easier for him to wrap his arm around him. “Do you think he’ll get me a drink?” He was completely joking of course.

  
Keith moved out from under Lance’s arm. “Definitely not,” Keith had the smallest slip of a smile on his face and Lance was actually surprised that he was cute. Lance didn’t know where he stood with Keith. They weren’t enemies and after being forced to hang out, the whole “leave each other alone” thing had been given up pretty quickly. Like faster than Lance could blink really. And it wasn’t as if he disliked having him around, but Lance wouldn’t call them friends. More like a friends of a friend type of deal.

  
Lance just grinned at Keith and walked beside Pidge. There were a lot of things to do in the festival, which was reasonable since it was a festival after all. “Do you think they’ll paint me like Mothman?” Pidge asked, looking over at the face painting booth.

  
“Do you want to find out?” Lance asked her and Pidge was already dragging him over there. Lance followed after them, more than happy to get his face painted with them. Hunk had went off with Shay to go and explore the different types of food that they had there. Shiro and Matt were probably getting something to drink, Shiro probably watching over Matt before he got too drunk. Lance wasn’t sure if he was a lightweight or not.

  
That left Keith to follow them, which Lance didn’t mind. Keith was pretty quiet, just looking at the menu that they had to offer for designs that were already made. “They have a pretty cool skull one,” Keith mumbled. “I think I might get it,” Keith looked at Pidge and Lance.

  
“Edgy,” Lance coughed into his hand, following it with a wide grin. “I might just get the lion or something, do you think they paint the lions blue?” The line wasn’t super long for one person who was painting, Lance noted, and he guessed that no one realized that they were open.

  
“Shut up Lance. And I’m pretty sure they make the lions whatever color they want,” Keith told him.

  
“Holy shit guys they have a cyborg,” Pidge gasped, looking up at the two of them. “I’m getting that,” they went up to the register to grab a ticket. Lance and Keith followed after her, all three of them getting a yellow ticket with what they wanted on the back of the ticket. The line moved fast, especially when people realized that there was someone else who was painting.

  
It also felt way faster when Lance was in the actual seat. The teenager who was painting his face kept muttering under their breath since he was taller than them and they had to stand up for it. Lance was resisting the urge to laugh.

  
His phone was buzzing in his pocket when he was done and waiting for Pidge and Keith. Lance had about five text messages from Hunk, who sent Lance a selfie of him and Shay at some pretzel booth with one of the pretzel girls. A follow up text asking where they were and another selfie showing they had found Shiro and Matt.

  
Lance sent a selfie of his painted face and a poorly shot video of him zooming in on Keith’s face being painted and then Pidge.

  
Hunk just sent him several thumbs up in response, asking for them to meet the rest by the pretzel stand. Lance agreed. “Keith you look so edgy,” Lance comment when he saw the other. Keith glared at him a little.

  
“You look like a little kid,” Keith told him in response.

  
“Not more than Pidge,” Lance gestured to the shortest of the three. Pidge looked up at them both.

  
“I look awesome,” Pidge pushed him gently.

  
Lance rolled his eyes, “Whatever. We’re supposed to meet everyone over at one of the pretzel stands. We should be able to see them when we get there, but there’s like 500 pretzel stands here.”

  
“Good, I want food,” Pidge began to lead them although she didn’t have her glasses on. Lance followed her, Keith walking next to him before they both realized that they should not be following Pidge. The three of them walked side by side, Lance taking awful selfies of the three of them whenever he had decent enough lighting. The sun had gone done fast, and it sounded like the band got louder in response to the sun going down.

  
They caught up with the rest, Pidge going over to by themselves a pretzel. Shiro laughed when he saw them. “You guys look ridiculous,” the oldest of them grinned. Matt was leaning against Shiro, he had his arm wrapped around Matt’s waist. Matt looked flushed in the face but didn’t look any worse than that.

  
“Yeah, especially Keith with his edgy skull design,” Lance commented. “Am I right?” He shrugged, grinning.

  
“You literally have your face painted like a blue lion,” Keith furrowed his eyebrows. “You look like the color blue threw up on you,” there wasn’t any heat behind the words and Lance just gave Keith a smug smirk.

  
“Still, you look like an edgy thirteen year old,” Lance crossed his arms over his chest.

  
“Hey Lance try this, stop bickering with Keith,” Hunk was giving him a bratwurst before Lance could say anything in response. Lance took it happily, biting into it. “We were thinking we can watch the band for a little bit, maybe walk around see what people are selling,” Hunk suggested. Pidge had rejoined them with a pretzel in their hand, picking it off. They offered a piece to Matt who leaned down and ate it out of their hand like an ostrich.

  
Shiro ducked down and kissed the top of Matt’s head. “That sounds fine to me,” Lance said, trying not to talk with his mouth full.

  
“So as long as they don’t play anything weird, then I’m down,” Keith shrugged.

  
“You love Smash Mouth just as much as the rest of us Keith,” Pidge told him, now trying to keep they’re pretzel away from Matt who was trying to get more.

  
“I’m going to get another drink and then I really want to see the stuff there is to buy here,” Matt told them all.

  
“This is your last drink,” Shiro told Matt who patted his chest.

  
“Sssh, I know, I know,” he grinned at Shiro and then poked his nose. “Come on, we’ll meet you guys later,” Matt was already dragging Shiro away who gave an apologetic look at Pidge who waved him off.

  
“I’m going to get something to eat too, do any of you guys want to tag along?” Keith looked at them.

  
“I will,” Hunk admittedly agreed. Shay just nodded her head, whispering something to Hunk that made him laugh.

  
“Yeah, I’m still hungry,” Lance nodded.

  
“I’m not getting left behind,” Pidge placed their hands on their hips. “I want to see what other types of pretzels they have,” they put back on their glasses. “Let’s go,” this time, they did follow Pidge.

  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
By the end of the night they were all sitting in wet grass, watching a slightly crappy band. Pidge was eating their hundredth pretzel, Hunk and Shay whispering to each other and Matt looked ready to take a nap but had sobered up. Keith was sitting next to him and pulling apart grass. Lance was doing the same thing, it was getting late and he wondered if he could catch the bus with Hunk at this time.

  
Lance checked the time on his phone and cursed under his breath, making Keith looked at him with raised eyebrows. He still looked ridiculous in his face paint on. “What happened?” Keith asked him, brushing dead grass off of his thighs.

  
“Hunk and I missed our last bus,” Lance let out an annoyed sigh.

  
“I have two open seats in my car still,” Shiro told them, looking at Lance, Hunk and Shay.

  
“I can take one of you on my bike, if you’re fine with it,” Keith shrugged. He leaned back on his hands.

  
“Shay and Hunk can ride in the car, I’ll take the risk on the bike,” Lance pretended as if it was dangerous. He looked at Keith who looked unimpressed but nodded his head.

  
“I have an extra helmet,” Keith told him.

  
Shiro looked over at him. “You’re also a speed demon,” Keith actually stuck his tongue out at Shiro in response and Lance lost his shit a little. He began to giggle at how ridiculous he looked.

  
“Just tell me when you want to go home,” Keith pushed Lance, unbalancing him a little since he was still giggling.

  
He had no idea why it was so funny but it was, and honestly even Keith looked amused.


	10. ACT 1, SCENE 10

When the workers began to shuffle the drunks out of the party, everyone decided to leave for home. The people who organized the event kept talking about making sure people didn’t drink and drive, and Lance’s face was incredibly itchy from the face paint. Pidge, Hunk, and Shay had walked off with Shiro and Matt. Matt had been clinging to Shiro’s arm, talking loudly about how Pidge just _had_ to sit in the middle.

“Didn’t you park in the same space they did?” Lance asked Keith, looking at him.

Keith shook his head. “No, I parked somewhere else. Where they parked was full of cars, so I found some other bikes to park next to so everything is more organized.” It slightly made sense to Lance. Slightly. Not really, but he nodded his head and pretended that it did anyways. Lance didn’t really understand the whole motorcycle obsession that people had. Sure, they were cool, but he wouldn’t buy one, and he was only riding on Keith’s so that Shay and Hunk could ride home together. It was a sacrifice for his best friend.

“Owning a motorcycle sounds complicated,” Lance commented as they walked. The night air was chilly and he noticed how Keith wrapped his arms around himself. Lance wondered if he should offer him his jacket, but Keith wasn’t like Pidge. They didn’t have that bond where he could just give Keith his jacket and Keith would happily accept it. Lance needed a verbal confirmation that Keith was cold first before he even thought about draping his jacket on Keith’s shoulders.

“I guess?” Keith shrugged a little, raising his eyebrow. “It does require maintenance and it’s going to get colder soon, so I won’t be able to ride it, but it’s so nice to ride one. Especially when you’re speeding down a highway or when you’re just able to speed in general.” Shiro had said that Keith was a speed demon so Lance wasn’t surprised that he liked the speed. Lance found the expression Keith’s face a little more handsome when he talked about speeding -- maybe it was because it was dark as hell and the skull face paint still looked really good.

Lance didn’t say anything else, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they got to the bike. It matched Keith’s jacket, Lance thought so anyways, but it was dark and he may be wrong.

“I have an extra helmet,” Keith said, lifting up the back of the seat. He held a small helmet (and Lance thought it was small purely in comparison to the helmet that Keith had) and handed it to Lance, who strapped it on the best that he could. He felt ridiculous.

“I’ll go on first to balance it and you’ll climb on after me. I’ll start it once you’re on. You’re kind of tall, but it shouldn’t feel that awkward. There’s stuff to place your feet on so they’re not hanging on the ground, but just don’t touch the metal behind your legs and you should be good,” Keith instructed him, flipping up the helmet so he had clearer vision. He got onto the bike first like he said he would and Lance followed after him. Keith turned on the motorcycle and Lance instantly wrapped his arms around him, holding Keith tightly without meaning it.

Keith didn’t seem to mind, and he even heard him laugh a little bit. Lance tried not to pout. “I’m going to take off now,” Keith warned him. Lance didn’t think that anything was going wrong so far. The vibrations were settling into his bones and he could feel it, especially in his hips. When Keith began driving it was also weird, but Lance didn’t complain about it. Keith did it all of the time so why shouldn’t he be able to handle one ride?

Lance held on tighter than he needed to, his arms curled around Keith’s midsection. He didn’t even think twice about wrapping his arms around him. Lance was a little bit terrified.

Keith wasn’t speeding, which was good, because he wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle Keith speeding. Lance was still just a _tiny_ bit terrified. He was on a motorcycle for the first time and it was dark, and it wasn’t like he distrusted Keith or anything, but he was just placing his complete and total safety in his hands and it kind of freaked out Lance a little bit. Keith didn’t seem affected at all by his driving, which was to be expected, and it wasn’t like Keith was a particularly bad driver. As far as Lance could tell, he was a good driver. Fuck, now he was rambling in his own mind.

He was being safe since Lance was on the back, Lance knew that, but he was sure that Keith was a good enough driver.

Lance tried not to worry himself to death as they stopped at a red light and Keith turned around so that Lance could hear him better. “You don’t have to cradle me, you know? I’m not speeding,” Keith quipped, sounding amused. “I can tell you're scared, but I’ve been driving this thing for a while now.”

Lance blushed. He blushed because of the fact that he was cradling Keith and the fact that Keith could tell that he was scared (‘why shouldn’t he be able to tell?’ Was more of a question Lance should be asking, since Lance was pressed up against his back on his bike). “I’ve never been on a motorcycle before,” Lance admitted, letting up in his grip a little bit and realized that he was probably making it harder for Keith to breathe with how tight he was holding onto him.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, unsure if Keith was even able to hear him since he had begun to drive again. Lance recognized their surroundings. They were close to where he and Hunk lived, and he was guessing that Keith lived near him since he didn’t have instruct him to the area. “You’re going to want to turn right on Macintosh,” Lance spoke into his ear the best that he could.

He wasn’t sure if Keith had heard him or not, but he turned where he was supposed to and Lance directed him from there on how to get him home. Keith parked the best that he could, somehow managing to catch a good spot for a bike even at the late time, and turned off the ignition.

“I’m going to get off first and then you can get off. It won’t tip over unless you get off in a really stupid way. Just mimic what I do,” Keith told him, having kicked out the bike stand before he got off of the bike carefully. Lance followed after him, getting off just as carefully. His legs felt a little bit weird and he guessed that it was from the vibrations of the bike. Lance took off his helmet and handed it over to Keith, who stashed it away.

“Why did you get off the bike? You don’t live here,” Lance asked, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at Keith. He suddenly felt exhausted and he wanted to take a shower.

Keith pointed down the road. “I live not that far away from here. Also, I’m terrified you’re going to fall while going to your place, because you seem especially shaky right now.” He made a point to look at Lance’s legs.

“I’m a little shaky. Just admit that you want to walk me to my door and kiss me goodnight,” Lance prodded, grinning and winking at Keith.

Keith made a face that was a mix of surprise and uncertainty. Lance wasn’t really sure what it was. “Not sure about the kissing part, but yeah, I’ll walk you to your door,” Keith conceded, shrugging. Lance blinked at him for a moment.

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah,” Keith shrugged his shoulders casually. “Lead the way.” Keith told Lance. Lance was tempted to ask him why, but he led Keith up to his apartment anyways. The two of them didn’t speak as they walked up to his apartment. Lance began playing with his apartment keys as they walked up.

“Thanks for driving me home and walking me to my door. It feels like a proper date,” Lance said it as a joke as they got to the front door. Keith laughed at it, which made Lance feel a little bit proud.

“I only drove you home because you would be stranded otherwise. Also, I felt like you were going to fall on your face. I’m just being a good friend and making sure that you don’t bust your lip,” Keith told him and Lance blinked a little bit. Keith considered them friends now? It felt like a complete and total 180 from how they used to be. Lance didn’t mind it. He actually didn’t mind being friends with Keith, and he grinned at him.

“What a good friend,” Lance snickered, scratching at his face. He looked at the blue face paint that was underneath his fingernails now. “Goodnight, Keith,” Lance told him and Keith smiled, punching him gently in the shoulder.

“Goodnight Lance,” Keith said. Keith waved, still smiling, and made his way out of the building.

Hunk was home (alone, Lance noted) and he was probably in his room. Lance took off his shoes and hung up his jacket. A long shower would make him feel ten times better, so he went and did that, realizing that it was nearly one in the morning. That explained why he was so tired and he flopped down onto the bed. He curled in it, grateful that Hunk was a heavy sleeper. He didn’t wake up no matter how much racket Lance made when he laid down. As soon as his head hit the pillow it didn’t take him very long at all to fall asleep.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

< Lance woke up the next morning relieved with the fact that he didn’t convince Shiro to get him a beer or more (honestly Lance hadn’t even tried) since he had no hangover. He was just really tired from how exhausted he was from the night before. Lance checked his phone for the time and tried not to groan loudly at how early it was. Hunk had left earlier and it was almost ten in the morning.

Why would Hunk need to get up earlier? It was _Sunday_. Neither of them had classes on Sunday. He wasn’t sure if anyone had classes on Sunday. His phone buzzed with text messages that were being sent to his phone all at once.

The Hunkiest: I bet you’re not awake right now but I went to the store because I realized that were out of eggs and milk and a lot of things apparently

Hips don’t lie: cool, don’t get the lactose free milk

The Hunkiest: no lance your stomach is going to be upset if I don’t get the lactose free milk

Hips don’t lie: it doesn’t taste the smae, my body doesn’t tell me what to do, I tell it what to do

Hips don’t lie: same**

The Hunkiest: go back to bed Lance

 

_Mullet Man: Did you take my extra helmet?_

_Mullet Man: or did i forget it at your place?_

Hips don’t lie: [IMAGE SENT]

Hips don’t lie: I accidentally stole it, sorry

Hips don’t lie: I’ll return it to you at rehearsal tmrw or something

_Mullet Man: yes please_

_Mullet Man: I can’t believe this betrayal_

Hips don’t lie: why are you up so early?

_Mullet Man: I wake up around 8 on a regular day_

Hips don’t lie: you disgust me

Hips don’t lie: I’m going to watch shitty netflix movies like a normal person instead of whatever it is you’re doing

 

Lance smiled a little bit and he wasn’t sure why. He couldn’t wait until fall break came up so that he could just go home and ignore the fact that he was probably being a little bit weird. His emotions were weird and now he was making friends with someone that he didn’t like before. On the other hand, now he was talking to Keith and he was enjoying it.

 

_Mullet Man: [IMAGE SENT]_

_Mullet Man: I’m a normal person_

 

The image file was a selfie of a slightly rumpled Keith who was still clearly in bed. Lance noted the alien print sheets and wondered how old Keith was. He knew that he was a dork, since Keith did watch that show with him and Pidge. Lance was actually wondering about that show. Had they watched any more episodes? Lance actually wanted to see what the episodes were going to be and wondered if the two of them were still watching them together. Maybe Lance would crash or something (although Pidge’s apartment was a little bit terrifying, since it appeared to be haunted).

 

Hips don’t lie: Nice sheets loser

Hips don’t lie: How long is it till fall break?

_Mullet Man: Awhile, it’s only mid October (which by the way, why was there an Oktoberfest in mid October?????? Arent they in september usually?) and then we have like two weeks of November_

Hips don’t lie: (THATS WHAT I THOUGHT, I mean I had fun but it was still a little bit weird to me)

Hips don’t lie: i just want it to fall break already, I’m so tired

_Mullet Man: Me too, and it’s longer since we’re in college now and not high school_

Hips don’t lie: how long was your high school fall break?

_Mullet Man: like a few days long, it wasn’t a fun experience_

Hips don’t lie: that sucks, mine was like a week long

 

Keith didn’t respond to him after a while, so he just burrowed underneath his sheets and pulled up Netflix on his phone. He began to play whatever random show that was the last thing he had watched. There was a thumping sound that heralded Hunk’s return, and Lance held up a peace sign in greeting once his friend was in view.

“Have you gotten out of bed yet?” Hunk asked.

“Nope.”

“Are you planning to?”

“When my bladder gets more demanding, I will,” Lance admitted. He continued to curl up into a small ball, making sure that he kept himself warm. “Otherwise, I’m not getting up.” If Lance didn’t have to get up, then he wasn’t going to get up. Hunk didn’t say anything, just sighing and shaking his head as he went to place things away in the kitchen. Keith still hadn’t responded to his texts and Lance didn’t mind, really.

He just found out that he enjoyed talking to him.

 

Hips don’t lie: do you think I can go on your bike again?

 

Lance was an impulsive person. So, naturally he sent an impulsive message, and maybe that message could be read as a flirt, but Lance didn’t really read it that way. He just wanted to talk to Keith and riding on the motorcycle sounded really fun again.

 

_Mullet Man: It’s going to get colder soon, maybe we can go for a ride after rehearsal one day_

 

The suggestion made Lance grin.

 

Hips don’t lie: that sounds fun, just tell me when we can go for a ride

 

“Who are you texting that’s making you smile like an idiot?” Hunk asked him, and Lance placed his phone down even though Hunk was across the room from him and couldn’t grab his phone even if he wanted to. The two of them had wrestled about their phones before so he didn’t think it would be much of a stretch if Hunk decided to go for it anyways.

“Um,” Lance began, sounding incredibly eloquent. He wasn’t sure how to answer other than an obvious lie or the real truth. He wasn’t sure why he was hesitant to tell the truth, either. “A girl that I met last night. Totally hot babe,” Lance lied. Hunk stared at him for a moment.

“Really?” Hunk obviously didn’t believe him.

 “Okay, no, I’m texting Keith,” Lance told Hunk, after some hesitation.

Hunk made a face. Lance liked to describe it as a cat face, a cat who caught the canary. “So, you two are friends now?”

“Seems like it,” Lance said, ignoring the look on Hunk’s face. Instead he just looked down at his phone and waited for Keith to text him back.

“That’s so cute. It’s like a story! You guys started off as enemies and now you’re becoming best friends. Don’t let him replace me,” Hunk joked. Lance ignored him in favor of burrowing further into his bed sheets. “In all seriousness I think it’s nice that you two are actually becoming friends. That way it won’t be so awkward for the rest of us when we hang out with you two.” Plus, Lance wouldn’t feel like that much of a third wheel and he wouldn’t feel super lonely.

“Yeah,” Lance agreed with Hunk quietly. He didn’t want to mention the friendship thing, so he wasn’t going to. Hunk stared at him for a moment but didn’t say anything to him about the lack of response. “He’s weird, but I mean... I have to be his friend because you guys are forcing me,” Lance said slyly, and Hunk grinned at him.

“You’re the one who’s smiling like an idiot while talking to him,” Hunk replied. Lance pouted a little; he wasn’t wrong.

“He sent me a stupid selfie and he has the worst bed sheets in the world. Look at them!” Lance cried dramatically, showing Hunk the picture.

Lance brought the phone back down and stared at the picture again. “He also looks stupid.” He put down his phone and Hunk was just gazing at him. “What?”

Hunk shrugged, resting on his bed. “Nothing.”

Lance furrowed his brows at his best friend for a moment before relaxing on his own bed again. Neither of them spoke after that and Lance scanned things on his phone. He wondered where his laptop was before deciding that he was too lazy to find it.

“So, are you and Keith going to hang out soon?” Hunk asked, breaking the silence. 

“Probably? Also probably not, I’m not really sure. I’m going to talk to him after rehearsal tomorrow, or just during rehearsal,” Lance said.

Hunk nodded his head. “Sounds good, dude. Did Pidge send you pictures of hungover Matt? Apparently Shiro sent them some pictures.”

“No, show me.” Lance went over to him, sitting next to Hunk. The two of them just looked at pictures of Matt with varying degrees of despair on his face. There were also a few smug selfies of Shiro, who seemed to be mimicking Keith’s facial expressions, which sort of made sense since they did grow up together.

  
Lance found it pretty amusing, but his phone buzzing brought him out of his musings. Keith was texting him again and Lance glanced down at it, not minding the stupid messages that Keith was sending him. Lance responded with a few dumb texts of his own, feeling strangely content.


	11. ACT 1, SCENE 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unedited, also sorry it's a day late

Lance was excited for rehearsal Monday. Since he wasn’t a main character, he wasn’t needed at all of the rehearsals. So he felt incredibly lazy just having nothing to do after school. But today he was needed and he was so excited to get back into the swing of things. Plus Keith and him were going to talk about him going on his motorcycle again. And Lance was actually pretty excited for that (he should be, of course, considering that he was the one who brought it up in the first place).

The auditorium that they were in was pretty full, since nearly everyone was there that day. Lance looked around for Keith, finding him easily. Unlike what he would have done with Hunk and Pidge, he just approached him from behind and poked him in the back. Shiro smiled at him, while Keith turned around and glared at him.

“Hey Lance,” Shiro greeted him, Keith’s greeting was a hard poke in between his ribs. 

“Hey-- ow! I did not poke you that hard,” Lance glared at Keith, Shiro just looked tired behind his younger brother. He wore that expression a lot and Lance wondered what it was like to be in Shiro’s position. As much as he didn’t mind Keith, and liked him, he would have to admit that Keith was a little shit. At least, in comparison to Lance who was a perfect angel who never did anything wrong (Lance knew that this was bullshit, the two of them put together was probably the worst thing that this universe could have done).

“How was the rest of your weekend?” Shiro asked him, looking at Lance.

Lance shrugged, “Pretty boring. It was nice though,” Lance admitted. “How was taking care of Matt? Pidge sent Hunk the pictures and Hunk showed me the pictures.” Pidge had later been shown the picture from Pidge, who apologized about not sending them to him sooner. Apparently, she had to wrestle her phone away from Matt. So Lance forgave her for it. 

“He’s fussy like a child. But he also likes to snuggle a lot, so it wasn’t all that bad,” Shiro admitted with a small grin on his face. Lance had only really talk to Matt a handful of times. Pidge had skipped a bunch of grades, which was the only reason she was in school with them. But by the time that they became friends with Lance and Hunk, Matt was already moving on to college which meant that they didn’t spend a lot of times together.

“You guys snuggle all of the time anyways. It’s not anything new for you,” Keith scoffed a little bit. Lance glanced between the two brothers and wondered if the two of them were always like that.

Lance wondered what he was supposed to say, feeling a little weird. He wondered if this was what other people felt like when they were around Lance and his siblings. Most likely.

Lance remembered when Matt was home, Pidge stayed with him and only ever invited Lance and Hunk over a few times. She was protective of her brother it seemed, and tended to spend time with him and him alone when she could. Lance couldn't blame her. He didn’t really needed to do that since his family was so large, and he was constantly being contacted by his parents. And his siblings, and his cousins, and his aunt and uncles. There were so many family members who constantly messaged him.

Keith was staring at him for a moment now, like he had done before when they had all gone out to see that movie. But this time, his expression was far less concerned. He just looked curious. Shiro had gotten distracted by something and walked away from the two of them to go deal with whatever it was.

“So you enjoyed being on the bike?” Keith asked him, and Lance nodded his head.

“Yeah, I did actually. At first it felt really weird,” Lance admitted. “The vibration in the hips felt especially weird. But other than that, it was pretty fun. As long as you don’t speed I’m sure that I’ll be fine when we go on it again,” he grinned at Keith.

“Well, we won’t be driving at night this time,” was all keith said in reference to the speeding thing. Lance wondered what he meant by that. Did he mean that he was going to speed?

“What does that mean?” Lance asked him, Keith didn’t get the chance to reply before Allura was calling them up to talk. She was on stage, her hands on her hips as she began to explain what they were all going to do that day. He listened to her, as he usually did. Lance glanced over at Keith who was just as focused as he was. Lance looked back over at Allura, noticing that she seemed more relaxed that day.

He wondered why that was, but he guessed that it didn’t matter. 

“Our schedule is a little bit complicated. Apparently we can not put the show on the day that we wish to. But the show will go on, of course. And it doesn’t mean that we will not rehearse as much as we have been, I’ll update you all when we get further information,” Allura told them. Lance felt immediately disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to go and do the musical when the date had been originally set up.

He wanted to know why it was being postponed, but he couldn’t just go up and ask Allura. He wasn’t close to her. He knew that Shiro and a few other people that were working on the show were close to her, and he guessed that Lance could ask Keith to ask Shiro to ask Allura. Or he could just do it himself. Not the asking Allura thing, but the asking Shiro thing. Lance didn’t want to make a bad first impression. Not that he didn’t know Allura, he just didn’t  _ know  _ her.

“Well, that’s slightly crappy,” Keith mumbled underneath his breath as Allura began to call up the people for the first scene.

“Yeah,” Lance agreed with him. He climbed onto the stage, offering his hand to Keith and helping him get on there. They didn’t bother using the stairs even if that was the more traditional route. Everyone got into the positions necessary for Keith’s song. Lance actually really enjoyed this.

Mainly because it was such a stark difference from how Keith was. He was kind of weird, not as serious as Lance first thought he was. Keith was sort of dorky, and was a smug little shit when he wanted to be, and a little awkward. So Lance found it so amusing to watch him swagger onto the stage, reeking of sex appeal with every hip thrust he had. 

Lance worked with everyone else in the song, dancing as they should. Lance felt like he was much more impressed than he usually was with Keith’s performance that way. It felt like he had brought something a little different to it but Lance couldn’t tell what it was.

The scene was over quickly, and they moved as fast as they could into the choreography for the opening song. With him focusing on making sure that he landed what he needed to land, Lance went into some sort of zone without realizing it. He didn’t focus on anything else other than his moves and what he was supposed to do until he was no longer needed and was allowed to sit down.

There were a lot of scenes in the musical that featured the ensemble, so Lance didn’t need to go and hide in the background the entire time. But at the moment, Lance got to relax. He stared at the people on stage, amused by their actions. The auditorium was cold, but on the stage itself it had been warm so Lance was very glad to sit down in where it was cool again. He checked his phone, seeing that Hunk and Pidge were blowing up their group chat with pictures of each other during a lecture.

Lance put his phone away after a moment, finding what was going on on stage more amusing than what was going on on his phone. There was only a few more minutes left of rehearsal, and they had been there pretty early in the afternoon.

The last scene that they were working on was the scene where Grizabell was chosen to be reborn. Lance had to go back on stage, going with the rest. In his opinion, this was one of this favorite scenes in the musical. When they rehearsed it, the scene didn’t have any of the soft lights that it did on the Broadway versions or in the movie, but they hadn’t gotten to Hell week yet so the lighting was yet to be done.

Lance imagined that they would go for soft melancholy during this scene, but he didn’t know what the lighting crew was thinking about yet. Lance just watched the scene fold out and did what he was supposed to until Allura called it a day. 

She clapped her hands, “Alright!” Her voice was so loud, “Good rehearsal. I expect all the ensemble dancers to be here tomorrow at the same time.” Allura told them.

  
Everyone nodded their head and got off the stage. People began to gather their things and were talking quietly to one another. Keith approached Lance again.

“When do you think that we can go on that ride?” Lance asked him when the other was in view.

“You have rehearsal tomorrow right?” Keith asked.

Lance nodded his head, “I do. Yeah. And I think I have it Thursday and Friday too. Wednesday is also when I have the least amount of classes.” 

Keith’s eyebrows rose and he couldn’t help but notice the way that his eyes lit up at that. “That’s good. I’m pretty much free Wednesday too. I guess we can go for a ride. What time does your last class end?”

“Around 11,” his classes that day ended pretty early because he got up early. His schedule on Wednesday started pretty early. Usually Lance wouldn’t take morning classes, but those were the only classes that Lance was able to take. Lance had to admit that the early classes wasn’t that bad. Sure, he had to get up super early like he did in high school. But it was still pretty nice since it meant that he had time to do things that he wanted to do.

“Cool, okay. My classes end around 1, so I guess I can just pick you up from your place,” Keith shrugged his shoulders. 

“Sounds fine by me,” Lance smiled at him. Keith gave him a small smile back before Shiro was calling him over. Lance waved his hand at the other, “I’ll see you Wednesday.” Lance left the auditorium, heading his way back to where he and Hunk stayed.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁    
  


When Wednesday came, Lance was excited to see Keith again. It wasn’t as if he didn’t see him often, he just wanted to be on the back of his bike. And maybe he did want to talk to Keith, but the two of them couldn’t really talk. Although it wasn’t hard to hear Keith at stoplights, talking over the wind when they were actually driving was difficult.

Lance laid on his bed, looking at meme videos that Pidge had tagged him in over Facebook. He shared a few, especially the Imperial March done by dogs one. He stared at his phone for a while, waiting for a text from Keith.

Around 1:12, Keith messaged him.

 

_ Mullet Man: im outside your apartment, make sure you bring a jacket _

_ Mullet Man: also i’m hungry so maybe we can stop for food _

Hips don’t lie: on my way

Hips don’t lie: also I still have your helmet, I keep forgetting to give it back to you

Hips don’t lie: do you want me to cover you for lunch?

_ Mullet Man: if you want to, you don’t need to _

_ Mullet Man: also, give that back to me you turd _

 

Lance laughed a little at being called a turd. He went downstairs, seeing Keith easily. He tucked his phone into his pocket and pulled on the helmet. “Where do you want to go for lunch?” Lance asked as he settled on the back of the bike.

Keith shrugged. “I don’t know. I was thinking about just driving around and if we see something that we like, we can stop there,” Keith glanced over at him over his shoulder. Lance nodded his head.

“That doesn’t sound bad. Where are we heading too? Generally, I mean,” Lance held onto Keith, holding onto him the way that he did the night before.

“Don’t know, I guess we’ll just drive,” Keith admitted to him. “You might want to hold on tighter,” now Lance felt nervous. Lance was about to do that but Keith then took off. Even in a parking lot he went fast and Lance wrapped his arms tightly around Keith’s mid section. He didn’t plan on letting go of him. He just made sure to hold Keith close to himself so that he didn’t fall off of the bike.

Keith sped off, and Lance just hugged him tightly. His body was shaking because of the tremors of the bike and it took Lance a moment to collect himself. Keith didn’t seem to holding back on the speed this time. Lance wasn’t sure how he felt about it since he had never been on a bike that went so fast.

It was almost like a roller coaster, except roller coasters had more hardcore twists and turns. Lance looked ahead of them as Keith continued to drive. There was a sharp corner coming up and he swore to god he felt Keith get faster. “Keith,” Lance said loudly. “Keith! That’s a corner -- oh my god,” Keith turned the corner and Lance swore that he felt his leg touch the ground. He held on tighter to Keith.

They stopped eventually due to a red light and Lance’s hands were shaking. If it wasn’t because of the fact that they were on a bike, he would have pushed Keith or punched him. He settled for yelling instead, poking Keith in the side. “Dude! What the hell!” Lance yelled.

“What?” Keith didn’t look at him.

“You could have killed us with that turn back there!” Lance yelled at him. Keith’s shoulders began to shake and Lance recognized that he was laughing.

“I’m a good driver, you’re safe,” Keith defended himself.

“Good drivers don’t speed,” Lance angrily told him. Keith didn’t say anything in response. He just laughed a little bit before taking off again when the light turned green. Keith had slowed down a little bit which was nice. Lance was still holding onto Keith as tightly as he could. If he didn’t, he was scared that if Keith decided to speed again that it wouldn’t be a good idea. He didn’t think that Keith would pull a jerk move like that, but Lance had to make sure.

So he just held onto Keith tightly still. Keith seemed to be going slow because of traffic, switching lanes every now and then. Lance felt weird with the swerving but eventually the two of them were able to go in a straight line again. Keith sped up once more, and Lance held onto him even tighter. Not tight enough to restrict his breathing, but tight enough to show that her was actually fearful.

They lived in a college town, but if you drove out far enough you were able to get towards the desert and other pretty things. It seemed that Keith was heading that way which Lance didn’t mind. He only minded the fact that Keith was speeding so much. 

All of a sudden, there was a stop and Keith turned to look at him. “How about that place?” Keith nodded towards a diner and Lance looked at it. It looked decent enough.

“Yeah, totally,” Lance told him. Keith nodded and drove over to it. He parked and they did the same thing as they had the night when Keith drove Lance home. Getting off caused Lance to stumble a little, Keith looking at him in concern.

“Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine. It’s just all of that speeding,” Lance bumped Keith with his shoulder.

“It’s fun,” Keith defended, “But if you don’t like it, I won’t speed on our way back,” Lance followed Keith into the restaurant. There wasn’t a hostess or anyone to greet them so he just followed Keith to a table. 

A server walked over to them, placing down menus. Lance looked at Keith, laughing when he saw the helmet hair. “You look like a mess,” Lance was tempted to reach forward and fix an incredibly frustrating strand. Keith did it for him, giving Lance a surprisingly warm smile.

“You don’t look any better,” Keith commented and Lance kicked him gently underneath the table. Keith laughed. “The helmet does wonders for you,” he placed down the menu that he put down and Lance rolled his eyes, looking down on it. It took him a minute but he found out something that he wanted to eat. 

“I’m covering you,” Lance said to remind Keith. Keith nodded his head, not saying anything else as the server came over. The two of them were quiet after the server took their orders. 

“I don’t know a lot about you,” Keith looked at him. 

“And I don’t know a lot about you,” Lance shrugged. “I guess that’s a bad thing considering that we’re literally hanging out right now. Or not, we can use this as an opportunity to know each other,” Lance pointed out to him.

Keith nodded his head, “That sounds great.” Keith sounded genuinely happy to hear this and he leaned on his hand to look at Lance. “Were you born here?” Lance took a moment to realize that he meant the state.

“Yeah, I was. Were you?” Lance asked and Keith shook his head.

“Nah, I wasn’t. But I moved here not long before I was adopted by my family,” Keith leaned back into his chair and looked at Lance. Lance wasn’t shocked to hear that he was adopted since he was pretty sure it had been mentioned before. 

“Is Shiro your only sibling?” Lance asked.

Keith glanced away from him before looking at him, realizing that he had been asked a question. “He is. He’s a butt too,” Keith mumbled and Lance grinned.

“I have three siblings. They’re also butts. But I love them,” Lance shrugged. He had an older sister, a younger brother and a younger sister. “My oldest sister also has the cutest daughter,” Lance also had a ton of cousins who were constantly hanging around. And his grandparents too of course. Keith smiled a little bit.

“Big family?”

Lance nodded his head, “Such a big family.” Lance grinned at him. They went silent when the server came over to them again and gave them their food. Both Keith and Lance remained silent as they just ate the food that had been placed in front of them. The food smelled good and Keith looked suddenly incredibly hungry, Lance would have laughed at him if not for the fact that he was super hungry too. He began to eat, neither of them talking over the food, leaving their conversation to be short.

After they finished eating, Lance looked over at Keith. “Why did you decide to go into theater?” Lance asked him, waiting for the server to come over with their check since neither of them wanted anything else.

  
Keith paused, glancing out the window next to him, “At first it was because Shiro was into it. And I just decided to copy him. At some point in there I realized that I actually really enjoyed it, and my parents liked seeing us in shows. It was fun and it still is fun, the work pays off and you always feel good after you finish a show. I was originally in tech but being on stage is fun.” Keith looked at Lance. “What about you?” 

“I’ve always been ready for the stage. I came out of the womb ready,” Lance said jokingly. He smiled for a moment before shrugging, “I’ve just been into it since I was little. And now I can’t stop and I don’t want to stop. There’s no real reason or strong thing behind it.” The server came around with the check and Lance paid. They had to sit there for a moment as they waited for the server to come back with Lance’s card.

When the server came back, Keith stood and looked at Lance, waiting for him to do something. After a moment, Lance realized that he was supposed to follow him and did so wordlessly. They got back to the bike. “I’ll be slower this time, but only because you just ate,” Keith told him when he climbed onto the back.  
Lance grinned, wrapping his arms around his waist, “My hero.”


	12. ACT 1, SCENE 12

Lance was exhausted when Keith dropped him off at home. This time he made sure to hand the helmet over to Keith, who grinned at him.

“Thanks for driving me home.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome. You’re not that much of an ass as you first seemed to be,” Keith said, tucking the smaller helmet underneath his arm. Lance pouted at him.

“You’re more of an ass than you seem to be at first,” Lance joked. “Okay, I guess you’re not that bad. I mean, you’re not like me. I’m perfect, but you’re okay too.” Lance shrugged his shoulders and gave Keith a small smirk. Keith stared at him for a moment, looking amused.

“If that helps you sleep at night, sure,” Keith told him. “But I’m saying, the mullets are still a huge win for the boys.”

Lance blinked, surprised. It wasn’t like he was going to say anything. Of course Keith knew he was going to be cool with it. The majority of people that he knew were either not straight and not cis, or one of those. So he didn’t care. It was only a matter of time, right? Lance figured he must be tired because he was putting so much energy into this.

“Sure, but everyone loves tall people. I have you beat.”

“You’re only two inches taller than me!” Keith protested, looking up at him.

Lance stared down at him. Were his eyes purple? They were dark, and they didn’t seem to be a straight up grey or black. Lance realized that he had been staring for far too long when Keith’s cheeks turned a light pink. Keith looked away, stepping back from Lance.

“You’re not that tall,” Keith mumbled.

Lance nodded his head. “I guess not. Or I am, and you’re average. Either way, I should head in. It’s late, and driving at night is a terrifying experience.” Lance glanced away and then looked at him again.

“Yet you came back for more,” Keith said, waving his hand a little bit.

“Shut up,” Lance grumbled. “See you, Keith.” Lance grabbed the keys from his pocket so Hunk wouldn't have to get up to let him in.

“See you later, Lance. We have rehearsal again on Friday,” Keith reminded him, as if Lance didn’t know.

“I know,” Lance called as he opened his door. “Drive safe, edge man!” Lance threw in one last jape before he unlocked the door to his apartment. Hunk was on his bed when he got inside.

“Hey!” He greeted Lance. “Your hair looks messy. Did you have fun?”

Lance narrowed his eyes at Hunk, wondering if he was implying something or if he was being genuine.

“I did have fun, thanks. Keith's driving was a lot less scarier this time,” Lance replied, shrugging off his jacket. He hung it up after he kicked his shoes off.

Hunk stared at him. "Anyways,” Hunk began, shifting his sitting position. “Are you hungry? We could get some snacks and play games. I’m bored.” Hunk took a break between his words to pout. “I already made all the cookies we had, but I can make some more food. Plus, your high score on Mario Kart is so stupid. I can’t believe you actually managed to do that."

"Is the console already set up, bro? Also, there’s no need for food, we had lunch. What type of cookies did you make? I didn't even know we had cookies.” If he had known this then he would have already eaten them. Raw. His mother had always told him not to eat straight up cookie dough but he always did it anyways.

“Chocolate chip. We bought them when they were on sale. It was from another late night shopping trip,” Hunk said, glancing at him. “Oh! The console is set up. Pidge stopped by when you were out and we played some games for a while. Pidge is such a little gremlin. I swear they were cheating,” Hunk grumbled, letting out a noise that sounded like a whine. Lance “snuck” (it was him humming the Mission Impossible theme while Hunk whined about Pidge) into the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Hunk’s voice ended his theme song humming, and Lance stuffed a cookie into his mouth. “I put in Smash Bros instead, because I don’t think that you playing Mario Kart right now is fair.”

“Eating?” The words were muffled by the cookie. Lance found a small, clean plate and piled on some cookies. He joined Hunk in the main area again, sitting down with the plate in his hands. “And how is it not fair? My score isn’t even that high,” Lance said, swiping one of the remotes.

Hunk stared at him for a moment. “You have some crumbs on your face,” Hunk pointed out. Lance wiped at his mouth as the music swelled up from the speakers. The game was already up and they went to the character selection page. Lance wondered who he should choose, bouncing between Kirby and the Wii Fitness icon. He decided to go with the Wii Fit girl, since that would probably be the best (and the easiest on Hunk).

Hunk chose Falco and Lance gave him a small glare. “Fuckin’ furry,” Lance mumbled under his breath.

“You’re the one in the musical about cats, and wouldn’t it be considered an avian? Considering that a bird is not a furry animal.” Hunk had an expression on that Lance liked to call his “know it all” face. Lance continued to glare at him, pouting just a little bit. There was no real heat in the glare and Hunk just gave him a wide grin in return.

“I hate you.”

“If you hated me, then you would have never fed me whenever I wormed my way into your home in high school,” Hunk pointed out to him.

“Yes, I would have? We both know that my mom would have murdered me if I didn’t treat my guests properly,” Lance countered as they began to play their little brawl. So far, Lance was winning even though he was distracted. The Wii Fit Trainer had thighs that could literally kill someone. “I invited you into my house. You didn’t worm your way in there. What you wormed your way into was my family's hearts,” Lance sighed, being melodramatic. “I still can’t believe my own little niece Rosa calls you Uncle Hunk. I feel so betrayed.”

“Why?” Hunk glanced over at him and Lance took that as his chance to destroy Hunk. “Aw! Dude, not fair,” Hunk whined. “I was distracted.”

“There is no ‘fair’ in love and war. It’s betrayal because she lets you pick her up. I was the only one other than her mom who could do that.” Lance didn’t look at Hunk, but he was pouting for extra effect. Quickly, he stuffed another cookie into his mouth.

Hunk was silent for a moment. “How is that betrayal…” Hunk mumbled under his breath. “I’m pretty sure she only let me pick her up because I made her some food.”

“But still!” Lance whined, destroying his best friend again. Hunk seemed exasperated. Lance wasn’t sure at what, though. It was between his whining and the fact that he had beaten Hunk effortlessly in the first round of their fighting alone. “It was betrayal,” Lance grumbled.

“Sure buddy.” Hunk just chose a different character. Lance chose Kirby this time.

“What!? No, no you can’t choose Kirby! You’re too damn evil with that pink thing.”

Lance turned to him and smirked. “Sorry buddy.” A yellow pillow was thrown at him with all of Hunk’s force and speed. It skimmed the top of his head as he ducked, looking at Hunk and sticking out his tongue.

“Lance,” Hunk began.

  
“Yeah, man?” Lance chewed on another cookie.

“The round started.”

“Oh! Shit,” Lance cursed, focusing back on the game. He wasn’t going to let Hunk win.

He and Hunk played video games for a while, and Lance finished all of his cookies. “I think I’m going to fall into a coma,” Lance announced at the end of what had to be their 100th round. They had spent hours playing video games.

“You can just say you’re taking a nap.” Hunk’s tone was teasing.

“Well, ooookaaay. I’m taking a nap then.” Lance got up and put his cookie plate in the kitchen. “You’re staying out here?”

“Yeah. I think Shay is studying late tonight so I might just invite her over,” Hunk said, looking at Lance.

“Just put a sock on your door,” Lance joked, waving his hand. He stretched his arms above his head and a pillow hit him directly in the face.

“Lance!” Hunk shouted, and Lance wrapped his arms around his waist. He cackled and grinned, looking at Hunk. On the other hand, Hunk was blushing red. He knew that Hunk wasn’t going to do anything with Shay. The guy was as asexual as asexual could be -- excluding the fact that he was heteromantic.

“Go take your nap, big loser,” Hunk mumbled underneath his breath.

“I’m sorry? Who lost all of our rounds just now?” Lance asked him as he walked to his bedroom. He shut the door behind him before Hunk could shout anything else at him. When he got into his room, he glanced at the little (admittedly dumb, but he was attached to it) robot clock on his nightstand. It was probably too late to be taking a nap and Lance wondered if he should go through his nightly routine. Probably.

Lance went to go and shower before he went to bed. After his shower he put on the face mask that his mother’s friend had sent to him for free. It was important to take good care of your skin, after all.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
Lance woke up when there was a crash in the kitchen. He shot out of bed, opening his door. “Hunk?” He called out cautiously. Lance went out to the kitchen hesitantly.

He poked his head around the corner and saw an apologetic Pidge, a tired looking Hunk, and Keith, who still looked like he had bedhead.

“Just Pidge not understanding how the oven works, almost decapitating Keith in the process,” Hunk sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

“Why are they here? I’m hideous!” Was the first thing out of Lance’s mouth. Pidge looked over at him. They fixed their glasses and snorted.

“Because you look like my grandmother in the mornings,” Pidge commented dryly.

“Shush, gremlin,” Lance hissed, glaring at them. Keith was blinking at him slowly and Lance wondered if he was going to pass out in their kitchen. “No, but seriously. Why are the two of you here?”

“I’m here because I was sleeping over at Shiro and Matt’s place but they kicked me out. So I ran to Keith. Then I dragged him here because everyone deserves to see Lance in the morning. Also because I’m pretty sure that if someone didn’t watch him eat he wouldn’t. You two have a proper kitchen that isn’t filled with weird stuff, and Hunk can actually cook,” Pidge explained at length, shrugging their shoulders.

Lance stared down at her for a moment. “I’ll be back,” he promised, slinking off to go and brush his teeth, as well as get rid of the night mask that he had on his face. Lance debated getting out of his pajamas but honestly, his joggers were comfortable. So was the ratty theater camp shirt he was wearing. When he came back to the rest of the group, Keith still looked sleepy on the counter of their kitchen but Hunk was fiddling with the coffee machine.

“Move, I make better coffee than you,” Lance muttered, gently shoving Hunk away from it.

“You only say that because you’re Cuban,” Hunk muttered.

“It’s true because I’m Cuban,” Lance responded, putting his nose high in the air as he made the best coffee in the world. He leaned back against the counter next to the machine. Keith was still quiet and staring at it. Lance glanced at the time on the oven and realized that it was early as shit.

“When did you guys get here?” Lance asked. “It’s so early.”

“We got here around 7:50. We’ve been here for like ten minutes,” Keith whispered, his voice heavy with sleep. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against a cabinet.

“What the fuck, Pidge?” Lance looked at the smallest of the four, who was sitting in the walkway of the kitchen. “Keith, we have a couch if you need to sleep on it for a little bit. No one will mind.” Lance felt bad for the dude. Pidge wasn’t exactly gentle when she woke someone up. Sometimes Lance wasn’t even sure if Pidge slept, period. He had been on the end of their ruthless wake up calls. She probably almost killed him a few times, waking him up in the middle of the night because of some information on some cryptid.

It probably didn’t help that her place was definitely haunted.

Keith slid off of their counter. “I might take you up on that couch offer, if you convince her to let me sleep. Pidge already kept me up all night.” Keith rubbed at his eyes and Lance watched him go into the living room.

“That was you participating in it as well. You get just as heated as I do with conversations on whether or not the Mothman will come back,” Pidge called after Keith. Lance heard him flop onto the couch and he wondered if he should get the guy a blanket. He was in that stupid cropped jacket. Did he even own anything else? Lance swore that he was going to catch a cold.

“You guys are nerds,” Lance mumbled as he prepped Hunk’s coffee and his own. He looked at Pidge. “You want some? Also, Keith, should I just make you a cup later?” Lance projected his voice loud enough so he would be heard from the living room. Pidge nodded their head at the mention of coffee and Lance didn’t know why he expected them to say no.

“Do you have tea?” Keith’s voice was muffled by a pillow.

“Yeah, I think so.” Lance checked the cabinets. “We have some black tea, if you want it? We also have mint tea but that has no caffeine, so…” He wondered if he should get more types of tea. Lance didn’t mind tea, and sometimes it was better for his stomach than coffee.

“Black tea would be nice. I don’t take it with anything, thank you.” Keith’s voice was still muffled and Lance swore that he sounded exhausted. Lance heated up the kettle, making sure to leave space for Hunk and his cooking. He left Hunk’s cup of coffee on the counter next to him, making sure that it was spaced properly. Pidge made grabby motions with her hands until Lance gave in and handed her the mug.

Everyone fell silent after a moment and they all just stood around the kitchen. Or laid down, in Keith’s case. Lance was tempted to check on him, but he imagined it would be better if he left him alone until his tea was ready.

Lance sipped at his coffee until the kettle began to scream. He took it off carefully, easily avoiding whatever it was that Hunk was doing. He poured Keith a cup and put the bag in, wondering if it was really okay without anything else. Lance put the smallest bit of honey in there; black tea was bitter and Keith should probably have something sweet after getting a shitty wake up call from Pidge.

Hunk finished up cooking quickly and Lance brought Keith his tea. “There’s food, and Pidge is setting up some weird documentary on cryptids. So you should probably get up.” Keith turned over and glanced at him, he looked like a pouty child.

“Okay,” Keith mumbled. Lance stared at him for a moment and then, on impulse, poked his forehead. Keith looked confused, like when you poked a cat on the nose. Lance scurried away and just went back to his coffee and grabbed some food from Hunk. Pidge was messing with the TV and doing something that was techy and nerdy. Lance understood some of it but not a whole lot, honestly.

Pidge did lighting and all of that fun stuff, and he knew she was going to work backstage, but for her it was less about the theater aspect. She was going into some field of engineering. Lance handed her a plate of food and made small rotations, making Hunk get out of the kitchen so that he could do the serving. Keith was next, and he had sat up and shed that stupid jacket, thank God. Lance made sure to give him a blanket in case he got cold. Hunk was after Keith and probably had the largest portions. Lance took whatever was left and sat on the floor.

He leaned back against the couch and watched what Pidge had put on the TV for them.

“You’re so weird,” Lance commented under his breath. Pidge glared at him.

“The concept of cryptids are not weird. They are perfectly normal and the fact that there is such prevalent evidence of them is something that proves that there are things out there,” Keith piped up, still sounding muddled.

“You’re also weird. I don’t want to hear it from you. According to your selfies, you have a conspiracy theory board in your room.” Lance looked up at Keith, who stuffed a piece of pancake in his mouth. “Are you the Mulder to Pidge’s… smaller Mulder?”

Keith stared down at him. “Conspiracy theories have truths laced within them. I’m going to figure them out.” Lance briefly wondered why he let these people into his apartment. “And besides, if we’re Mulder, doesn’t that just make you Scully?”

“Don’t Mulder and Scully have sex?” Hunk asked, his mouth full of food. Lance choked on his coffee and Keith tossed over a worried look. Hunk and Pidge were used to this and didn’t seem to even spare him a glance.

“No… It’s highly alluded that they have a relationship beyond their partnership, though,” Keith said thoughtfully.

“Alluded? Scully basically makes out with a Mulder impersonator. They also kiss!” Pidge turned around and looked at Keith.

“Guys, oh my god,” Lance sighed into his cup of coffee. “Why do I even let you into my apartment?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End Act 1.


	13. ACT 2, SCENE 1

Musical theater was exhausting. Theater was exhausting in itself. Lance realized this in his freshman year of high school. He was unable to get a part in either of the school productions that year, so he worked backstage. Hunk had also worked backstage; a place he happily stayed in for all four years of high school.

The chaotic mess of a green room was introduced to him.

Lance fell in love with it.

He fell in love with the loud music, he fell in love with the way that everyone had their inside jokes -- even if he did feel left out because he didn’t understand them. Even though he hated Hell Week, he fell in love with the experience of being apart of something. He also got a major crush on the senior who played the Beast in their production of Beauty and the Beast (he also got to kiss him on a dare, which left fifteen year old Lance giddy while this seventeen year old senior just looked amused and tired).

It was different from middle school, and that was one of the reasons why he loved it so much.

Lance was able to land roles in the next three years of his high school career. By his senior year, he had been in the lead roles for both of the productions, and for the Fine Arts (musically and theatrically speaking) one year event.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Middle school had a different effect on Lance. He was in one production outside of his school, but his parents worked too much and he was only ever able to be in it in his eighth grade year. It was in a crappy dinner theater.

There was a green room, but it was less chaotic. Lance still didn’t know why that was. Maybe it was because the production was mainly adults and middle school kids. Lance’s first kiss was a girl who was in her scene phase. She was in her first semester of ninth grade and he probably bothered her way too much. Lance didn’t even like the scene style. He guessed that he thought she was cool because of how cynical she was.

Lance kissed her because he had never kissed anyone. She kissed him so that he could stop whining about never being kissed and so that he could stop flirting with her. He wasn't sure if he regretted kissing her or not, but it happened. It made him firmly believe that people in theatre always ended up kissing each other.

Lance had hated that production. It was a shitty show, but it still stuck with him.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Elementary school had been uneventful. His school had productions. They were cute and never really any good, but his parents realized his interests and began to help him improve them. Elementary school had been the foundation for everything else in his life.

Without this, he wouldn’t be in theater. Elementary school was still elementary school.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

In between college and high school, Lance played Bernardo in a nearby town’s production of West Side Story. It was fun, and he really enjoyed being in a professional theater. Hunk had worked backstage for that one too.

Lance also had made out with someone in the prop room. It was just a summer fling, but it had been a nice fling. Also, the prop room was easily one of the weirdest places that he had ever made out in.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

There was something about chorus rehearsal that everyone hated. Maybe it was the fact that they were getting closer to the actual musical, but Coran seemed _irritated_ at them. Lance didn't like seeing the man’s mustache twitch in distaste so much. Coran himself had a scratchy talking voice, but he could apparently hit high notes that the soprano singers were failing to hit for some ungodly reason. Lance could feel the irritation in the room and he resonated with it.

At this point he had basically everything he was supposed to sing memorized, but it didn't mean that he wasn't going to follow along in his music. Maybe it was the day, but everyone seemed to be sucking ten times more. Lance felt as if he was back in high school choir. The closer it got to the concert itself, the more people seemed to not care. Which was a bad thing.

“Let’s try this again!”

There was clear agitation in Coran’s voice and Lance wondered how much he was holding back from yelling at the singers. Judging by the vein on his neck, it was taking everything that Coran had to not yell. Lance watched as he started them on the cue and this time, they actually began to sing. Lance watched as Coran visibly relaxed before making them go over the section again. The auditorium made their voices bounce and he wondered when they were going to begin set building.

He leaned back on his hands, staring at Coran now and then before looking around again. The only people who were at rehearsal were their ensemble members. Anyone who played a main character wasn't there, excluding the teacher, who played Grizabella since she was watching them.

No one spoke much that day either, which was nice, but Lance was craving coffee and he wanted to be out of rehearsal already. They were about a month or so away, and things were beginning to be built. Lance knew that by the time Hell Week came around that everyone was going to be even more agitated and dead inside.

Hips don’t lie: someone please get me coffee after this rehearsal, i need it to destress from Coran’s stress  
Gremlin: extra sweet this time around?  
Hips don’t lie: pleaseeee  
Mullet Man: You shouldn’t be on your phone or he’ll get angry.  
Hips don’t lie: buzzkill, who even added you to this group  
Mullet Man: Wasn’t it you?

Lance noticed Coran turning towards his directions and quickly pocketed his phone. One last run through and then he could get his coffee, Lance repeated over and over in his head as a mantra. He wondered if Coran was going to drink coffee or tea after this. Lance liked to imagine that it was going to be tea that Allura handed him with a small shake of her head. The image of Coran sipping tea dramatically and Lance getting coffee at the end of the rehearsal kept him strong enough to get through it. He was zoning out throughout the entire song, but still managed to hit the notes properly and say the words properly. Although Coran did give him a look that made Lance wonder if he knew that he wasn’t completely in it.

Afterwards, Coran clapped his hands. He let out an exhausted sigh, looking at the group of young adults in front of him. “Alright, that’s rehearsal for today! Please go over your songs in your own time.” Coran looked exhausted as everyone gathered their things to leave. Lance pulled on his jacket before rushing out of there faster than he could blink.

Exiting the theater, he was hit in the face by the cold autumn air mixed with humidity. Lance had grown up in hot places and nothing would ever match the humidity that Florida had, but he didn't really like the humidity even where he was now.

Hips don't lie: I'm free from rehearsal  
Mullet Man: Congrats on making it out alive  
Gremlin: we’re at the coffee place near chub burgers, we visited hunk before his shift started at marigold’s too so we have some complimentary pastries  
Hips don't lie: the Santos have blessed me today

Lance did not like the cold, but he also didn't like the fact that Florida didn't have any seasons; something that Hunk was perfectly okay with because they didn't have seasons back in his home (Lance knew that in Cuba they didn't have seasons either, but he had never been there and could never call it home the way that Hunk called his islands home). He could endure it when he had on a jacket and long pants. Slightly, at least.

The walk over to the cafe felt longer than it usually was, but when he walked in he easily spotted Keith and Pidge. They were looking over Pidge’s tablet, and Lance approached them, glancing at the dimming screen once. He rested his hand on Pidge’s hair, ruffling it. “Hey,” Lance greeted them with his familiar wide smile before sitting down. Keith slid a large cup of coffee over to him. “Thanks.” He accepted it gratefully, eager to get feeling back into his fingers.

Keith gave him a small smile and Lance wondered if he grinned. Shiro probably knew. Maybe Keith had an ugly laugh. Lance could ask Shiro if he snorted or something.

“I don't think what you're drinking can be considered coffee,” Keith commented, and Lance held his cup protectively to his chest.

“At least it's not tea or something that's straight up black,” Lance countered, taking a sip of it and watched Pidge carefully so they didn't over tilt his cup while it was in his mouth.

“Black coffee keeps you awake,” Keith said as he stretched, and Lance watched the shirt logo for the Devils Tower in Utah stretch with him. It looked worn down and Lance wondered briefly how many years Keith has owned this shirt. He did dress like he was out of the 1980s sometimes, especially when he wore those go-go boots.

“So does this.”

“I have to agree with Keith here,” Pidge chimed in, fixing their glasses, the reflection of the light bouncing off of them. “Black coffee keeps you awake while what you're drinking just gives you a sugar rush you're going to come down from eventually.”

“The caffeine rush from black coffee eventually ends,” Lance pointed out. “What were you two even reading before I got here?” He changed the subject. “ALSO, I thought Hunk had food. As his best friend I demand the food that you got from him.” Lance laid his arms on the table before laying his head there. Pidge rolled their eyes, giving him some of the food. Lance also accepted this gratefully, although he did it with more gusto.

“We were just looking over some of the possible lighting design. Pidge is helping out with all of the tech stuff,” Keith answered Lance’s first question as he busied himself eating a sugary pastry he didn't even know the name of.

“Ohhh, cool. Can I see?” Lance was never super interested in the way the tech worked, but it was still good for him to understand how it worked. He appreciated everything that the people who worked for the tech did. Understanding it helped Lance appreciate it more.

Pidge slid over the tablet to him and Lance began to read. He was careful to not get any food products on Pidge’s stuff, otherwise they might kill him.

“Shit, this looks cool.” The set building was a slow process that had only just begun. The lighting and other tech was going to be another mountain to climb once they got there.

“Doesn't it?” Pidge gushed. “We’re -- well it's really just me, not to brag or anything, but I'm trying to fix up a fog machine so that we can have added effects during Memories. We might use it during the fight scene between you, Shiro, and that one dude. I don't remember his name, but you know what I mean.” Pidge gave him a bright grin. “Thankfully the sound shouldn't be too hard. The set hardly changes, so it's not as if there's a whole lot of effects needed. Which is also a shame, but it just means that there will be less frustrations during the whole thing.”

Lance listened to her gush about the sets, and for a moment he glanced over at Keith. There was an adoring expression on his face as Pidge talked about the sets. Lance felt the same way about it. She was so excited and Pidge was so goddamned adorable. Lance leaned forward and pinched Pidge’s cheeks. She stopped talking and looked at him.

“Lance.”

“Hm?”

“What.”

“You're cute.” Lance released her face and she rubbed her cheeks. He was smiling at her but she was pouting.

“You're ridiculous,” she sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“Yep!” Lance didn't even try to argue back. Keith was reaching forward slowly and Lance didn't notice until it was too late. Keith snatched a pastry away from him and stuffed it into his mouth before Lance could stop him. Pidge was giving Keith a look and Lance let out an indignant squawk.

“Keith!” He protested.

“Hm?” Keith was still chewing on the food. His mouth was full and Keith reminded Lance of a hamster that his sister had when they were younger.

“You could have just asked for one.” Lance had to stop himself from being territorial of his food. His siblings and cousins and whoever else was related to him, they all ate a lot, and so did he, but he heard his father's voice reminded him not to count food.

“Old habits die hard,” Keith mumbled, taking a sip of whatever drink he had. Lance noticed that his name was spelled Keither on the cup. He checked down at his own cup and noticed the same name.

“What? Did Shiro become a wolf when you guys sat down for dinner?” Lance quirked an eyebrow, a small smirk on his face.

“Only after practice. Or rehearsal, but really it was when I was in the foster system.”

Keith said it so casually. Lance burned his tongue. He knew that Keith was adopted, but it still surprised him that Keith was so casual about everything. Lance reminded himself about different experiences and all of that crap.

“Makes sense,” Pidge mumbled. She looked at her phone. “I should head out. I'm supposed to help Matt figure out the engineering of something. Or make sure he isn't going to kill himself on accident.” She stood up from her spot and gathered her things from the table.

“See you Pidgey,” Lance chirped, waving.

“Am I still coming over for the new episode?” Keith asked, and Lance was sure that he was referring to the cryptid show that the three of them watched that one time.

“Yeah of course.” Pidge nodded. “You can come too, Lance.”

“I'll think about it.” Lance smiled at them before Pidge left. It was just him and Keith, which wasn't an issue anymore. He split the last pastry in half, handing it over to Keith. “Excited for the show coming up?”

“Kind of,” Keith replied. “Sometimes I'm excited about it and then other times I get exhausted just thinking about it.” He accepted half of the pastry and Lance watched as he tore it apart into a few more pieces.

“Same here. I wonder what the green room is going to be like,” Lance admitted. “High school was wild, but before I left for college the production I was in also had a wild green room.”

“From what Shiro told me, it’s just as a mess as high school was,” Keith said it with a smile. Lance realized for the first time that Keith had a single dimple. Cute.

Lance sighed. “I'm just hoping that there isn't an incident like in my junior year.”

“What happened your junior year?”

Lance looked at Keith and wished that Hunk didn't have work so that they could live through the memories together. Hold hands and cry to each other. Keith was staring at him, his mouth pursed with a question and his eyes incredibly soft. Lance would find it cute if he wasn't reliving the horror that happened in his junior year.

“Let’s just say that there was a bed on the catwalk,” Lance said hesitantly, sipping at his drink. Keith blinked at him slowly, like a cat trying to process something flashing in front of it.

“Did people actually have sex on it?”

Lance nodded his head and Keith’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “Apparently it was some sort of right of passage.”

“Did you?”

Lance felt his face heat up. “No.” He shook his head. “The riskiest thing that I did was making out in the prop room. That was also a right of passage. Just less severe.” He also had no one to have sex with. Making out with one person didn't mean that he was going to have sex with them.

“Well,” Keith said, then paused. “I don't think anyone in my school did that.”

“They probably did, but you never noticed. Did you never make out in the green room or anything like that?”

“No. I guess I had the chance, but I wasn't especially interested in kissing any of the guys in my productions. Some of them were cute, but they were all just… I don't know. I suppose it was just the matter that I really wasn't interested in anyone. I was too busy being ‘edgy’.” Keith shrugged and Lance couldn't help but smile at the admission that he was an edgy teenager.

Lance: do you have any picks of high school Keith  
Muscle Man: I have a lot of pictures. I will send you all of them.  
Lance: ur a gift from the gods

He noticed that Keith was staring at him and he put his phone away. The stare was a little suspicious, but Lance just gave him a small grin. The look didn't fade from Keith’s face but it didn't look like he was going to press on.

“Do you have anything else to do today?” Keith asked him.

“No. Why?”

Keith shifted in his seat before standing up. “Let's go walk around or something.” Lance took a moment before nodding his head. He collected the trash and his half empty cup and stood up.

“Sure. The campus looks nice when the weather is like this. Especially with the leaves falling.”

Lance threw away his trash. Keith was leading him out of the cafe and Lance glanced once at the beat up pair of combat boots he was wearing. Lance looked at his face and noticed that Keith had zipped up his jacket all the way, and had shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Your hands wouldn't be cold if you wore actual gloves and not just those fingerless ones you wear to look cool,” Lance quipped, bumping his hip into Keith. Keith gaped like a fish for a second before he collected himself.

“My gloves are fine,” Keith he grumbled. He began to lead Lance away again and Lance followed after him. Was Keith’s hair longer than it was in the beginning of the semester? Probably, since hair grew. It brushed his shoulders and Lance had the strange urge to brush it. “I don't like gloves with covered fingertips. I can't use my phone that way.”

“They make gloves that are touch screen compatible,” Lance said. He placed one of his own hands in his pockets and Keith snorted a little.

“Those never really work. Besides, you're not wearing gloves either.” He glanced over at where one of Lance’s hands was hidden in his jacket.

“Okay, I guess that's true.” Lance couldn't really scold someone for something he didn't do himself. “My fingers rarely get cold though, feel!” He reached forward and placed his hands on Keith’s cheeks gently. In comparison to Keith’s pale skin, Lance’s hands stood out thanks to their warmer, darker color. Keith looked a little surprised, but he didn't pull away. Probably because of the warmth that Lance was radiating. “I'm a space heater.”

“I feel like this is cheating because your hands were in your pockets,” Keith responded, gripping his wrists. Lance could feel how cold his fingers were when they touched the little bit of skin that was there.

“For like, a few seconds, and it was only one of them. Yours were in your pockets for a few minutes and they're still freezing. Your face is cold too, how poor is your circulation?” Lance grabbed Keith’s hand as they continued to walk. “Here, hold this in one hand.” He handed his warm drink over to Keith. While Keith held that, Lance began to press against his fingertips and his palm, almost massaging it.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting the blood to flow. Your cuticles are terrible, by the way. Do you not take care of your hands?”

“You're holding my hand.”

“I am aware of that, Keith. I'm an affectionate person, I hold people's hands when I'm friends with them.” Lance looked at his face. Keith had a pretty blush along his cheeks. “You didn't answer my question.”

“No, I don't really pay much attention to that stuff,” Keith answered after a moment. Lance sighed.

“You need a spa day, man. You should probably have one. I can help you. I'm all about this type of stuff.” Keith was still blushing and the idea made him blush even more. Lance blinked at him.

“You wear face masks when you sleep, right?”

“Well, not every night, but yeah, I do. So I'm pretty good about this stuff.” Lance smiled at Keith. He didn't let go of his hand. “Just text me whenever you're free.” He took his coffee out of Keith’s hand and sipped at it as they walked. Keith was still pretty flushed and he realized that Keith wasn't someone who was affectionate with other people. In comparison to Lance, he was more physically distant.

“Fine, okay. I'll have a spa day with you.” It was reluctant, but Lance still grinned at the agreement.

“Good! Just hit me up when you want to have that spa day. If you want a certain product just buy it yourself.” Keith looked confused but Lance just kept smiling at him.

“Okay,” Keith mumbled, and Lance let go of him so that the two of them could walk normally without him being flustered.

Even if Lance did find his blush both equally amusing and pretty.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact my school is putting on Besuty and the Beast this year. I've worked back stage since last semester (I didn't have time as a freshman). Also the person playing Beast is one of my best friends and also a senior, I love her a lot.
> 
> Does anyone else feel like the creators of Voltron are releasing all of this information on Hunk because he had 0 development in season two?


	14. ACT 2, SCENE 2

Lance felt like everything was passing by him quickly. Maybe it was because he was so busy and he was busy all of the time. HIs mother kept messaging him and getting angry that he hadn’t sat down and had a full eight hour conversation with her and his siblings at home. Lance knew that he should at some point, but most of the time he was too exhausted to talk to anyone. Hunk understood and he let Lance wind down.

Even being a people person, Lance was easily exhausted by them. It didn’t help that theater kids were so loud and full of life. Except for Keith. Whenever he had rehearsal with Keith it felt like a breath of fresh air to sit down next to him and relax. Neither of them spoke a lot of the time, but they did text back and forth.

Hunk was pretty chill to be around, no matter the situation.

A lot of time, because of their schedules, Lance and Hunk were able to relax together often. Hunk was the perfect wind down for when he usually felt stressed, although he got exhausted of even his best friend and just wanted to be alone sometimes. Living together meant that Hunk and Lance were around each other a lot.

When Lance invited Keith over, Hunk wasn’t home, which seemed to confuse Keith. “Where’s Hunk?” Keith had his hair up in a ponytail, and Lance probably stared at him for too long. He looked really nice in a ponytail and Lance realized lately that he liked to stare at Keith. “Isn’t he usually here, making food or doing something weird with technology?”

“He only makes food when he’s happy,” Lance replied. “Take off your shoes. He’s doing something weird with technology with Pidge, so we have the whole apartment to ourselves! Meaning that we can play as loud as music as we want, but not too loud, because the whole purpose of this thing is to make us relax.” He kept glancing at Keith.

Keith nodded his head. “Okay. So should I take a shower, or something? How are we doing this? I’ve never had a spa day before so I’m leaning on you here.”

Lance scanned Keith’s body, looking out his outfit. He was dressed in his usual way; dark skinny jeans, black shirt, and he actually accessorized with a choker this time around and he had hung up his jacket earlier. Lance figured that it wasn’t something that could be easily relaxed in. It was too edgy. Lance himself was in straight up pajamas, loose joggers, and a sweatshirt. It wasn’t as if he needed to do anything fancy.

“You don’t need to shower. I think I have pajamas for you to wear, also a robe if you want one.” Lance shrugged a little bit.

“Uh, sure.” Keith crossed his arms over his chest and nodded his head.

“Cool, I’ll go grab those and I’ll plug my phone in. You can sit here.” Lance already had everything out. “Oh!” Keith looked a little surprised when Lance spoke. “Do you want the robe?”

“No thanks,” Keith said, giving him a small smile. Lance nodded his head and smiled back. He grabbed clothes for Keith, tossing them at him. Keith headed into the bathroom and Lance worked on getting the music up.

When he was done he sat down and waited for Keith to come out, staring at the items in front of him. There were several face masks. Lance personally preferred sheet masks, but if Keith wanted to try one of those peel masks then he was willing to give it to him. Lance had to admit that it was always fascinating to watch the way that the masks revealed a person's problem areas. Keith seemed to have naturally nice skin but everyone had a gross T zone.

“What are we doing first?” Keith plopped next to him on the floor and Lance hummed quietly.

“We can get the facial stuff out of the way? We’re not really doing anything super hardcore,” Lance admitted.

“Okay, I have no idea what’s going on,” Keith mumbled, looking up and blinking at Lance.

“Alright, cool! What face mask do you want to use? It’s not like you have bad pores or anything, just a few blemishes that I can see,” Lance said as he leaned in. Keith really did have nice skin and Lance felt jealous.

“What are the ones that you have to peel off? Because I always see those and they seem cool, but painful. Also, what was the one that you were wearing when I came over with Pidge?”

“It’s just an overnight mask, I don’t use it every night. If we’re going to use a peel mask you need to prepare for the pain, dude. The pain is real.” Lance placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “You also won’t be able to move your face for a little while. It’s a once a month thing for me.” Lance got up, his knees popping when he did. Keith winced at the noise but stood up too.

“Should I wait here, or?”

“I’ll get the mask ready, since you have to prepare it. You should wash your face and I’ll meet with you in the bathroom. Just wash it with warm water and stuff,” Lance told him before going to get the mask ready. Keith nodded his head and went to do that. There was soft music playing in the background and honestly, Lance was relaxed. He wondered if Keith was relaxed. It seemed that way. Keith was stand-offish in crowds and he easily got confused or annoyed--even in private--but he seemed to be relaxed.

Lance finished with the mask and went to join Keith in the bathroom. His bathroom wasn’t super small; the two of them could stand in it comfortably. “Are you ready for me to apply paste to your face?”

“I guess?” Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance and Lance grabbed a hair band.

“Put this on.”

Keith did as he was told. His bangs were brushed away from his face and Lance had to stare for a moment. Keith didn’t look bad without his bangs. He was still just as pretty as he was before. Lance began to apply the mask on Keith’s face. “Sorry if it’s cold,” Lance apologized, and placed the mask on Keith’s cheeks first. He placed it on his forehead and Keith’s nose.

Keith was sitting pretty still during this, just breathing gently and watching Lance as he placed the paste on his face. Lance finished on Keith’s face and began to place it on his own face, looking in the mirror as he placed on the mask.

“This feels weird,” Keith commented. “It’s tingling.”

“Good, that means that it’s working on your pores.” Lance looked at him with a grin on his face. The mask was still wet so it wasn’t very hard for Lance to talk.

“That’s so weird,” Keith mumbled. He leaned back on the toilet, closing his eyes. Lance stared at him for a moment, staring at his hair and narrowing his eyes.

“Maybe we should wash your hair.”

“What?” Keith opened his eyes and looked over at him.

“I don’t have long hair, obviously, but I can still give you some tips to take care of your hair.”

“Would they work? We have different types of hair.”

“Yeah, they should. I mean, they worked for Pidge, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t work for you.”

“Okay,” Keith said, nodding his head.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Keith looked at him and Lance noticed the way that the mask was drying. It was also getting hard for Keith to speak. “I don’t see why not.” He smiled at Lance and Lance grinned at him. Truthfully, Lance just wanted to brush Keith’s hair, but giving it a small treatment would also be nice.

“Sweet, okay.” It was getting hard for Lance to talk. “We should get out of the bathroom.” The lighting was terrible and he felt as if it was weird to just hang out in the bathroom. Keith nodded his head and walked out of the bathroom, with Lance following after him. He flopped onto the couch, stretching and closing his eyes as he waited for the mask to dry. Keith had sat on the floor next to him and neither of them really spoke.

There was a stretch of silence between the two of them. “Aren’t we supposed to be doing something during this time?” Keith was the one to break the silence.

Lance opened his eyes and looked down at him. “We can be, if you want. I can do your nails or something.”

Keith paused and then nodded his head. “Alright, that sounds cool to me. I sort of want to try as much as we can with your resources.”

Lance slid off of the couch. “I’m warning you now I only have dark colors if you want to paint with something that isn’t just clear nail polish. I don’t know where all of my bright colors went. Also, I guess that wouldn’t be a big deal for you because of the fact that you’re literally so edgy and emo.”

“I’m not emo or edgy,” Keith protested, frowning. Lance grabbed the little stuff he had for his nails. Their faces were almost completely dry and it was really weird to speak at this point.

“You’re totally emo and edgy.”

Keith was still frowning, but he stopped within a moment and Lance was pretty sure that he only did it because of the way that the face mask was making him feel. Lance grabbed Keith’s hand, staring down at his cuticles and his hands. Keith had nice everything. Hair, eyes, and skin. Lance was totally jealous. However, his hands weren’t super soft. They were a little bit on the rough side and it was clear that Keith was the type who worked with his hands a lot.

Keith didn’t argue with him anymore. Lance just focused on making sure that his hands were getting the proper treatment. The two of them were sitting on the floor of his living room and Lance only paused to look at Keith’s face. His mask was completely dry and Lance realized that they should probably peel it off.

“Hold on,” Lance told him. Keith’s hands weren’t really covered in anything. Lance had just started on the nails.

“Let’s go back to the bathroom. We need to peel the masks off.” Lance stood up and Keith followed suit, trailing behind him to the bathroom. “Do you want to do it yourself? Or do you want me to do it?”

“I want to do it,” Keith told him. He turned towards the mirror and began to softly pull off the mask. Lance watched him in case he began to tear it off in the wrong way. Keith was wincing and Lance watched the way that his eyes teared up just a little bit in the corners. Lance didn’t want to take off his mask unless he was in front of the mirror, so he had to wait until Keith was done.

“I think I tore off too many eyelashes just now,” Keith grumbled, looking at Lance.

“I didn’t get any on your eyelashes, you’re being paranoid,” Lance snorted, and Keith finished taking off his mask.

“It feels like it,” Keith mumbled, rubbing his face a little bit when the mask was completely off. “My face feels naked now. It’s a good feeling.”

Lance hummed. “It does feel good when it’s off.” Lance began to take off his own mask carefully. He didn’t want to harm his own face, either. There were little black flecks in the sink from the discarded face masks. It didn’t take him as long as Keith to take off his mask. He turned to Keith when it was off.

“Ta-da!” He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. “I have an actual face again!”

“I think I liked you more with the mask on,” Keith said, deadpan.

“I hate you,” Lance sighed, feigning offense, and Keith actually laughed a little bit.

“No, you don’t.” Keith grinned at him and Lance shook his head. No, he didn’t hate Keith at all. The two of them actually got along pretty well, once they set aside the fact that they were both headstrong.

Keith had terrible nails and his hands were rough, but that was fine. Lance could easily deal with calluses because lotion was a miracle (that Keith apparently ignored, since his skin was incredibly dry) and he could deal with the cold skin. On the other hand, Lance was horrified at the state of Keith’s cuticles; his nail beds were also just terrible. It wouldn’t be too hard to fix them, but he wondered what the hell Keith had been doing to them.

“How do you usually treat your nails?”

Keith paused and then he suddenly looked guilty. “I don’t? Sorry, I know you’re probably freaking out. Shiro had a friend who was trying to be a makeup person and they screeched at the sight of my nails.”

“And that reaction alone didn’t stop you from treating your nails the way that you did?” Lance asked with a raised brow. He continued to work on getting them to a normal state.

Keith made a face before shaking his head. “No. I mean, it’s hard to stop my bad habits. They break off anyways because I work on my bike a lot. Plus, having long nails seems kind of pointless to me.”

“Well,” Lance began, pausing in his work to look up at Keith. “You don’t need to have long nails. You just have to properly take care of them, and don’t blame you working on your bike. I’m sure if you actually took time and effort, you can make your nails look good, or at least keep them healthy.”

“I guess.” Keith shrugged and Lance took his hand again. “Why do you care so much about this kind of stuff?”

Lance began to work on Keith’s nails, focusing on them once more. “It’s just sort of something I grew up with. I can blame it on my sisters. The whole makeup thing, anyways, but really it was more my extended family. My tia, Gladys, was a huge fan of making sure that you presented yourself correctly. She always made sure she had her hair and her nails done, just so people wouldn’t look at her funny.”

Lance paused as he placed down one thing to pick up clear nail polish as a protective coat for Keith. “Do you want your nails to be black?” He was still placing the clear nail polish on anyways, just in case Keith liked to pick at his nails.

“Yes.” Keith nodded his head.

Lance painted one hand while the other dried. “Anyways, my tia sort of raised her children to be the same way. Since I grew up with them, the same message got instilled in me. My parents also have similar thoughts, I suppose, but my father is the type of man to go out in a bright red hoodie and wear purple shorts, so presentation isn’t as important to him as it is to my mother. My mother is the type of person to make sure that all of her children are pressed and ready for school, Sunday school, and any other thing. She wouldn’t let us leave the house in pajamas until my brother was born,” Lance told Keith, suddenly going in depth with his family. More in depth than he had previously, anyways.

“Growing up with this expectation to always look put together kind of made me this way. There’s no real reason for me to not act this way. I like making sure that I look decent. A lot of my habits are things I got from my cousins, and I keep with them because self-care is pretty important, y’know? Plus, my skin is soft and it’s pretty. I’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible.” Lance looked up at Keith in order to send him a grin. Keith had been sitting still and listening to him the entire time.

Since Lance had finished Keith’s hands and nails, he wondered if he should start on his own. He chose a dark blue, similar to the night sky. Lance didn’t begin quite yet, just looking at Keith and realizing that he still needed (wanted) to brush his hair.

Keith was quiet for a moment. “Your family sounds like they would be all over me.”

“Oh, they would be. Especially with that hair,” Lance chirped, standing up. “Which we should get to, by the way. You don’t need to do anything, especially because your hands are painted.”

Nodding, Keith stood as well. “Back to the bathroom?”

“We’ll be in and out of the bathroom. The treatment itself will be there, but when I brush it it should probably be out here,” Lance said as he walked. Keith nodded again and the two of them went to the bathroom.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

The treatment seemed to take way too long. Lance and Keith had gotten bored at some point and ended up watching a dumb movie. Now Lance was finally brushing Keith’s hair and watching the first season of Skin Wars.

“That painting looks like shit. Why is Mythica still here?” Keith muttered underneath his breath.

“I’m honestly getting sick of her. She’s just being whiny. You are here to compete, not to snivel at the judges and hope that they throw you a bone.” Lance was gentle with Keith’s hair. Keith was almost leaning into his hands, and Lance was reminded of a cat nuzzling against someone for attention. It was cute. Lance was starting to see Keith as cute rather than cold and distant.

Strange, considering that his opinion did almost a complete 180 from how his opinion used to be. Lance knew that the rivalry hadn’t been much of a rivalry. When he thought about it, it had fallen flat the majority of the time. It had been stupid when Lance really looked back on it. He preferred the two of them the way that they were now.

“I also hate how when the judges don’t understand something that’s abstract they shoot it down immediately.”

Lance shrugged, placing down his brush when he finished brushing Keith’s hair. Keith still sat in between his knees, sitting on the floor while Lance was on the couch. “I don’t know, body art is probably really subjective. They seem to like Natalie’s stuff a lot, and she can go really fucking weird in her art,” Lance pointed out.

“Just because someone goes weird doesn’t mean that they’re doing something great, though. Not that she isn’t doing something great; Natalie is really good when she wants to be, it seems. They didn’t really wrap their head around her superhero,” Keith countered, staring at the screen.

HUmming, he considered what Keith said. He had a point. “Yeah, that’s true. They are extremely critical and do seem to want everything spelled out in front of them.”

“Yeah! Exactly,” Keith agreed, nodding his head. “They’re so critical, like you said, and that’s the whole point of being a judge, you know? But it’s not really something that goes great when they’re asking for storytelling. I feel like they’re honestly just asking for the artists to be completely straight forward, and I don’t think it’s as fun that way.”

“It's very limiting on exactly how creative you can be. You can be creative, but not too creative,” Keith mumbled, focused on his hands. Lance had began to do his nails since he wasn't really doing anything else. Keith shifted away from the smell, sitting on the couch next to Lance now.

The front door opened and he looked up from what he was doing to look at Hunk, who was coming into the apartment.

“Dude!” Lance greeted him.

“Hey,” Hunk replied easily, looking at the two of them.

“How was the thing with Pidge?” Keith shifted as he spoke to Hunk, who sighed.

“Messy,” he admitted. “But we managed to get a lot done. The code they're doing just wasn't working for some reason, but we eventually figured it out.” There was a hint of pride in his voice and Hunk was grinning.

“Nice, man. Congrats.” Lance nodded his head.

“Yeah, I'm going to my room. You guys have fun with Skin Wars.”

Hunk left the two of them in the living room. Lance had finished painting his nails, so he focused on not moving his hands as they watched the show.

“Dutch is such a douchebag.”

“Oh my god, he is,” Lance chimed in almost immediately. “He looks like an anime character.”

“More like someone trying to be an anime character,” Keith commented. Lance placed his feet in Keith’s lap.

Lance snorted. “Still better than Mythica.”

“Everyone's better than Mythica.”


	15. ACT 2, SCENE 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao hi this is a note to tell you guys that I'm writing another klance fic (even though it is less heavy in there and less focused on it) but I'm going to wait till it's done to publish it, it's based upon the ending of season two and who will be the black paladin

Bonding obviously brought Keith and Lance closer. It was nice having someone to joke with during rehearsals. Shiro was there too, but he was less close to Lance than Keith was. It was really nice. It wasn’t Hell Week, which meant that Hunk and Pidge weren’t around. Usually he had Hunk, and Lance knew that he would have fun with Pidge, but Keith was nice to be around and nice to have around when no one else was there.

Even though he was fucking stupid.

“Keith, what the fuck?”

Lance stared at him for a moment. It had started snowing outside and Keith had come into rehearsal without a jacket. It had been freezing when rehearsal started and now it was even colder with the snow. “You’re going to freeze. Where’s Shiro? He needs to make sure you’re not going to die.”

“Shiro left early, remember?” Keith pointed out to him and Lance frowned, shrugging off his jacket. He handed it over to Keith.

“What are you doing?” Keith raised his eyebrow and Lance stared at him for a moment.

Lance blinked at him, noting the way that Keith seemed really confused by it. “Giving you my jacket?” He said it as if it was obvious. To him it wasn’t a big deal, because he always gave his jacket to someone else. Usually it was Pidge because they always forgot their jacket or dressed inappropriately for the weather. Keith happened to be Pidge in this situation, and Lance wanted to make sure he didn’t catch a cold.

“It’s snowing outside,” Keith stated to him, pointing out the obvious.

“Um, yeah?” Lance placed his hands on his hips, “I know that, Keith, that’s why I’m handing you my jacket. I’m in this comfortable-ass turtleneck and you’re in a black t-shirt and your brother had to leave early so, take the jacket.” Lance pushed it towards Keith.

“No, you’re going to be cold.”

“Less cold than you! Take the jacket,” Lance demanded again, pushing it towards his chest more.

“No,” Keith refused again.

“Oh my God, Keith, take the fucking jacket.” Lance was getting tired of the back and forth, stepping back and throwing it at him. “Pay me back by buying me a drink from La Bella.” Lance told him, crossing his arms over his chest. Keith was frowning a little bit but then he nodded his head. Lance wanted to kiss the furrow between his brows, but withheld the affection he felt.

It was natural for him to want to be affectionate for someone. He was always an affectionate person; that was how he grew up. So it was only even more natural that he was the same way with his friends. He didn’t really feel shocked that he wanted to kiss Keith’s dumb face, although he did find Keith a lot prettier than most of his other friends (and Hunk was one handsome dude. Hunk could be a model, in Lance’s opinion). Lance did enjoy hanging out with him but for a different, weirder feeling that he shoved to the side and ignored.

“Fine. I’ll buy you a drink, but it has to be a hot one so that your hands don’t freeze.” Keith stuffed his hands in Lance’s jacket. His jacket was a little too long on Keith, even though he wasn’t much shorter in comparison. Keith also had smaller shoulders, so it was baggy on him and Lance thought that it looked adorable.

“I’m okay with that,” Lance agreed, shrugging his shoulders. He followed Keith outside the building, seeing that the snow hadn’t piled on the ground yet. There were white flurries everywhere and Lance breathed out, watching the way that his breath steamed up in front of his face. Keith was just walking around, his hair standing out dramatically in the white and grey colored space. Lance followed after him still, watching his hair as they walked. It was collecting more and more flurries. Lance wanted to pull up the hood for him because apparently Keith wasn’t going to do it himself.

Lance walked up next to him, pausing in front of the cafe. Keith glanced over at him for a moment, doing his usual expression with one of his eyebrows raised. “What are you waiting for? Get inside. It’s cold,” Keith mumbled, and Lance followed after him eagerly.

The cafe was warm inside and Lance tugged at his sleeves in an attempt to warm his hands up. The turtleneck was doing its job keeping his neck nice and warm. He stared at the menu before looking over at Keith.

“I want a salted caramel. Just make sure it’s just a light roast,” Lance told him. Keith nodded his head, going up to the counter. Lance watched him order, wondering if they were going to part ways, if they were staying in here, or if they were going to walk somewhere else. Keith didn’t have his motorcycle but they could walk to the bus stop and get home that way.

Lance checked his phone. It was still pretty early on in the day since rehearsal wasn’t that long and had started early. He pocketed it when Keith gestured for him to come over to him. “What did you get?” Lance asked, watching the barista behind the counter make coffee.

“Just a chai tea. Not really in the mood for coffee, but I do want caffeine,” Keith admitted to him. Lance nodded his head. He had learned that Keith preferred tea over coffee. That didn’t mean that he avoided coffee like the plague. According to Shiro, Keith chugged down black coffee during Hell Week. Which apparently was also concerning, from what Shiro had told him. So he was a little nervous about Hell Week. Another thing to add onto his list of worries.

Their drinks appeared in front of them and Lance tested the flavor a little bit before going towards the sugar section.

“Are you adding even more sugar to that?” Keith asked him, not adding anything to his tea. He looked a little bit amused by the fact that Lance was adding even more to his coffee.

“I have a sweet tooth today,” Lance countered, sticking his tongue out. He finished with his additions and Keith once again began to lead him around, leaving the cafe.

“Where are we going?” Lance looked down at him. The snowflakes had begun to catch onto Keith’s hair again. They caught on his eyelashes too, little white pieces attaching themselves to his face. Lance couldn’t help but stare, especially when Keith blinking slowly as he thought about it. Keith’s face was flushed; his cheeks a light pink.

Lance found him incredibly pretty and suddenly his turtleneck felt too tight, and he pulled against it. Keith licked his lower lip, shrugging his shoulders. “We can go back to your place, since it’s closer to the bus stop. We could watch more Skin Wars?” Keith suggested to him.

“That sounds fine by me.”

It occurred to him that he had never really been inside of Keith’s place. Did Keith not want him to come over? Lance suddenly had the urge to invite himself over and suggest to Keith that they should go to his place instead, but Lance bit his tongue. Maybe there was an actual reason that Keith didn’t want him to come over. He wasn’t really sure what the reason was, but silently Lance was going to accept it.

Today it was because the bus stop was closer to Lance’s place. Lance was going to come up with a reason to go over to Keith’s apartment. Pidge had maybe been over to his place, so maybe he could ask her? Lance wasn’t focused on what was going on around him and his foot slipped on a piece of ice that he hadn’t noticed.

“Fuck!” He exclaimed, catching himself on a nearby wall. Keith looked at him, shocked by Lance almost falling flat on his ass.

“You should watch where you’re going.” There was bite in the tone and Keith looked agitated, but there was still concern. “Are you okay?” Keith asked him.

“I’m okay,” Lance said, carefully stepping back towards Keith, choosing to walk on more solid pieces of the ground.

“You sure? You have your balance?” Keith asked him, glancing at the hot cup of coffee in his hand. Lance nodded his head.

“I’m alright, I have my balance. Nothing spilled on my hand,” he told Keith. “Don’t worry. Let’s just get to the bus stop. Plus, if I fall, you’ll be here to catch me.” Lance winked at Keith. Keith looked at Lance, and he seemed flushed by the joking flirt. Lance looked away from him, scratching the back of his neck. Maybe Keith didn’t appreciate even friendly flirts.

The two of them were silent again. “Of course I’ll catch you, idiot. You’ll break a bone or something, knowing you,” Keith replied before beginning to walk again. Lance huffed at him, following after Keith like an obedient dog.

“Sure, buddy,” Lance drawled. “Because I’m so fragile that I’ll break like glass as soon as I hit the floor.” Lance sighed dramatically, placing his hand on his forehead.

“There’s not a whole lot of you protect.” Keith’s eyes scanned Lance’s body for a moment before he looked away again. Lance pouted.

“I’ll have you know that I am shaped like a Dorito, and I am proud of it!” Lance huffed. Keith laughed a little bit in response. Lance felt something glow in his chest at the sound of Keith laughing. They got to the bus stop, only having a few minutes until the bus actually arrived. It was too cold for them to sit down on the seats at the station, which all had a little bit of ice on the top of them. Lance wondered if it snowed in this area often, but he was too lazy to look at the past weather reportings.

“Dorito man,” Keith mumbled underneath his breath, Lance took a sip of his coffee, holding back a snort. The two of them just waited for the bus in silence. He didn’t really like silence between them because Lance was always talking, but when he didn’t know what to talk about he just sort of stared at the horizon.

The familiar headlights of the bus came into the distance, coming closer and closer until it stopped to let the two men on.

“So,” Lance began as they found seats, “What do you think our costumes are going to look like?” Lance asked him.

“I heard something about putting me in leather pants,” Keith said. “I don’t think cats wear leather pants, but they might paint stripes on it or something. I’m not really sure.”

Lance imagined Keith in leather pants and couldn’t help but switch to picturing him in the ending part of Grease. The thought was almost enough to make him laugh, but he also didn’t hate the thought of Keith in leather pants.

“Hey, Keith,” he started, looking over at his friend. “You’re the one that I want.”

“What?”

“Will you be my Sandra Dee?”

“Lance...” Keith rolled his eyes, moving away from him and pressing against the window of the bus. “Shut up,” he grumbled. “We all know that I’m the Danny out of the two of us. Besides, Sandy sang ‘You’re the One That I Want’, so it makes sense that I’m Danny if you’re the one quoting the song.”

Lance sipped at his coffee. Keith wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t mean that he was a fan of it. He shook his head. “I don’t think that I can pull off leather pants,” Lance admitted to him.

“I think you can,” Keith replied.

Lance stopped sipping and gaped at him briefly. Keith had a more shapely lower body than Lance did. Lance had wide shoulders but not much else, since his ass was flat and his hips were slim. At least Keith had an ass. He did have slight hips too, although he was pretty straight looking in terms of his body.

“Get me a pair of leather pants and I’ll prove to you how wrong that is.”

“Maybe we should just start with skinny jeans. You still wear boot-cut, Lance. It’s 2017.”

“I wear boot cut on laundry day. Not everyday,” Lance defended himself. “I wear joggers and straights otherwise. Give me some credit here.” Lance sipped his coffee again. Keith hummed, moving close to him. He guessed that the window was too cold for Keith. Lance didn’t blame him since it was probably bleeding through his jacket and was probably cold against his skin too.

“Alright, fine. You wore boot cuts one day and everyone was scandalized,” Keith corrected himself. The entire production had seen his pants and had all promptly overreacted.

Lance frowned, his face still looking playful. “I honestly don’t understand the big deal. You’re the one who has a mullet and you wear that weird crop top jacket that doesn’t really cover your body at all.”

“It is not a mullet.” Keith sighed out for what felt like the hundredth time. Lance couldn’t help but smirk a little bit at the reaction.

“Yeah, and I’m white,” Lance joked. Keith laughed again at that and Lance still felt the same glowing feeling in his chest when Keith laughed. He really enjoyed the way that Keith’s laugh sounded. It was a really nice laugh. “No, but seriously, you can’t rag on me about my boot-cut pants. They are perfectly comfortable, if disgusting to look at.” Lance knew that the pants weren’t the most attractive thing to look at, but they were laundry day pants. Of course he was going to be defensive of them.

The two of them kept talking the entire ride home, much to his relief. “I don’t really like tea, honestly,” Lance said as he watched Keith frown in realization that his cup was emptier now. “To me it just doesn’t have as much taste as coffee does.”

“Yes, it does. Maybe you’ve been drinking tea that’s been watered down. You have tea in your house though? Why?”

Lance ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Even when I drink it it’s usually plain to me. I have tea in my house because if Hunk or I get sick, it’s good to have. Sometimes Hunk’s stomach is too sensitive for him to be able to handle coffee, so tea is a good substitute.”

“I suppose that makes sense. There’s not a real reason why I prefer tea to coffee. I mean, I have reasons, but there’s no solid reason behind it.” Keith spoke with his hands, careful not to hit Lance and careful not to spill any chai over his fingers. “I think coffee is just better for when I’m really tired and tea is nice for all occasions. Tea actually tastes good when it doesn’t have caffeine in it, while coffee tastes weird when it’s decaffeinated,” Keith explained to him.

He looked away from Keith to notice that they were getting closer to their stop. Lance reached over Keith and pulled the cord, smiling apologetically for laying across his body the way that he did. “Sorry, you just looked like you were too busy talking and I didn’t want to stop you,” Lance apologized, pulling away from Keith.

Lance tried not to think about. Today he was being weird about Keith so he pulled his coffee closer to his face and took a large gulp in an effort to not freak out. The bus slowed down and they got off, heading towards Lance’s place. There was much more snow on the ground now and Lance felt comforted by this since it meant that he had something crunchy and solid to step on.

Keith was careful with walking in the snow, probably because of Lance slipping earlier. Keith was wearing combat boots though (thank God. Apparently he had learned that those weird go-go boots were not doing him any favors, or he was just becoming edgier), so Lance didn’t see the point in him struggling.

“You’re walking like a newborn deer,” Lance commented.

“I grew up in a place without snow. For the most part, anyways,” Keith admitted to Lance. “My family, or Shiro’s family, depending on how you view it, lived in New York when they adopted me. That was when I was seven? But I still spent a while in desert areas, and then we moved to Nevada, which is literally a place made of sand.”

“I grew up in Florida, but I’m still walking fine in the snow. Stop making excuses, Keith Buddy,” Lance said, patting his back. Keith let out a huff that reminded Lance of a disappointed dog.   
They got up to his apartment building and Lance ran up the stairs so that the snow came off of his boots. Keith just followed slowly behind him, not bothering to run.

Lance also ran because he wanted to get inside of his heated apartment already, since he was tired of being in the freezing cold without an actual jacket (he still had no regrets giving it to Keith). The two of them got inside and Lance peeled off his shoes, sitting down on the couch instantly and turning on the TV to pull up Netflix. Keith sat next to him and Lance put his feet into his lap.

“Snacks?” Lance offered, even though he was already comfortable. Keith shook his head.

“Nah, I’m good, thanks.” Keith shook his head, stretching out a little bit on the couch. Skin Wars started and the two of them watched it in silence. This type of silence Lance didn’t mind, since there was background noise.

Despite the coffee in his system and despite the fact that he had energy, the lazy atmosphere the two of them had created made Lance fall asleep.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

When Lance woke up, Keith wasn’t on the couch, but his shoes were still in the doorway. He heard the sink turn on, and after a few minutes it turned off and he sat up slowly. His head felt heavy from the nap that he had taken. Lance looked at Keith as he walked towards the couch.

“Hey,” Keith greeted him. “How was your nap?”

“It was fine. I feel weird now, though,” Lance admitted.

“Do you need tea?” Keith asked, looking a bit amused.

“No,” Lance laughed. “Maybe water.” Lance got off of the couch. The sun was going down outside and he wondered if Keith was going to leave. He just poured himself a cup of water, looking over at Keith. “Are you going home now?” Lance asked.

“Yeah,” Keith answered, nodding his head. “I was going to leave when the snow got a little less heavy but I don’t think that’s going to happen. It just seems to be getting heavier.” Keith frowned, most likely at the idea of having to go home in the snow.

“You can stay longer,” Lance invited him. “I was planning on making dinner today and we have enough for three portions. If anything, you can stay the night. You don’t live that far away from us, so you can go home in the morning if there’s a struggle for tonight.” Keith seemed to think about it for a moment before he shook his head.

“No, I should probably go home. Even though I would love to stay for dinner, I don’t want to be an inconvenience or anything like that.”

Lance frowned at what Keith said. He wouldn’t be an inconvenience, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t the full reason for Keith not wanting to stay over. Either way, Lance didn’t try to press him for more details.

“Alright, if you’re sure,” Lance said, nodding his head. “At least take my jacket so you don’t freeze to death on your way home.”

Keith hesitated before nodding his head as well, though it was much slower. “Alright, I’ll take your jacket,” he agreed, going over and pulling on his boots.

“And text me when you get home so I know you didn’t slip and fall to your death,” Lance called after him.

“But you’re the one who slips around,” Keith pointed out, shrugging on Lance’s jacket again and zipping it up.

“Leave me alone! I’m a sensitive soul and I don’t appreciate you making fun of me,” Lance protested. Keith laughed in response to Lance’s melodrama.

“See you later, Lance.”

“See ya!” Lance sang, waving goodbye as Keith stepped out of the door. He debated going back to bed or not before deciding to just make dinner. Lance sort of wished that Keith had stayed over instead of going home. There was always the chance in the future.


	16. ACT 2, SCENE 4

Lance woke up the next morning feeling incredibly stiff. His bed was too hot and everything was still dark. Lance groaned, sitting up slowly. His head was woozy and he managed to stumble out of bed. He was shaking and his shirt was stuck to his skin from sweat. Everything was still incredibly hot and he wandered out of his room, looking at the thermostat in the hallway. It listed the temperature as 70 degrees, so he cranked it down.

He crawled back to his bedroom, going underneath his sheets. Laying there in the sheets sucked and Lance found his phone, glancing down at the time. It was about two in the morning, according to the display. He curled up the best that he could underneath his sheets. His phone was really blurry so he just set it down and closed his eyes. Lance tried to ignore the fact that he was incredibly warm and feeling shitty.

It was probably just because he was tired, right? Things would be better once he got more rest.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
Lance woke up again at around eight. He blinked for a few moments but everything still looked blurry around the edges. His head hurt and the light filtering in through the window made him feel weird. Lance groaned, rolling onto his side and covered his face with his blankets. His body was so sweaty but he was so cold now. From the smell he could tell Hunk was cooking in the kitchen and he sighed, getting up slowly. His bones hurt a lot and he wondered if this was what his abuelita felt when she moved, complaining about her arthritis.

Wrapping his blankets around his body, Lance slowly made his way over to the kitchen, whining out Hunk’s name. His voice sounded rough and scratched. Hunk turned around and looked at him, startling at the sight of him.

“Jesus! Lance, get back in bed! You look terrible, man!” Hunk exclaimed, looking very concerned.

“I’m fine.”

“You should stay in bed today,” Hunk told him. “Seriously. Do you have the flu? If you have the flu then you should definitely stay home.” Briefly, he reminded Lance of a concerned mother.

“I can’t,” Lance whined. “Classes are so expensive and if I skip today then I’m paying for a class that I’m not even attending.” He sat down on the floor near the kitchen. Shifting his blankets around so that they covered his body and draped over him like a hood, he just pouted at the floor.

“You’re going to get everyone sick,” Hunk began before sighing. “Why are you on the floor, Lance?”

Lance didn’t answer him for a moment. “I’m dizzy. The world is spinning and everything is really blurry.” He didn’t like to lie to Hunk, and he knew that he couldn’t pass it off as him being fine.

Hunk went up to him, pressing his hand against his forehead. “You’re sweaty and you have a really high fever. Take a shower. I’ll make you some tea and some soup for the day. Do you have rehearsal?”

“Yes, I do,” Lance mumbled. “God, Allura and Coran are going to be so pissed.” Lance tightly shut his eyes. He wanted to go to class and to rehearsal, but he couldn’t because of how sick he was. It was really miserable; he just wanted to do things like a normal person. He wanted to learn and see people dancing and maybe see Keith, because he was pretty sure he had rehearsal today too, and Keith was so hot when he was playing Rum Tum Tugger.

“I need a shower,” Lance muttered, standing up slowly.

“Okay, we have some cold medicine, I think,” Hunk told him. “I’ll put it all on your bedside table.”

Lance nodded his head. “Thanks.”

He carried his blankets back over to his bed and dumped them. There weren’t many clothes in his dresser that wouldn’t clash with his overly sensitive skin, but he managed to snag some after a minute of digging.

The shower that Lance took was cool, and he ended up just shivering the entire time. Lotion would have made him feel gross, and when he caught a look of himself in the mirror he grimaced. Being sick really made him look super nasty. He was pale and he couldn’t go through with his skin products because of how sensitive he felt.

Lance got dressed and dragged himself back to bed. It was probably good for him to change his bedsheets, but he couldn’t. Everything was spinning so he just laid down and crawled into bed. Hunk had left water on his nightstand, and some pills.

“Hey, buddy,” Hunk’s voice was soft and he placed a cup of tea next to the water. “It’s hot, so don’t drink it right now, but you should really drink it when you can. It’s my mom’s recipe. You know the one.”

Lance nodded his head, swallowing. His mouth was dry but his throat was irritated. Everything hurt. “Thanks,” he whispered. All of a sudden he felt ten times worse. The shower seemed to just make his condition even more terrible, which made him feel like shit.

“I can tell Keith to let Allura and Coran know you can’t make it to rehearsal,” Hunk offered, lingering by the bed.

“Sure.” Lance closed his eyes. “Thank you. You’re really the best buddy I can ask for.” He stretched his hand out towards Hunk, who took the clammy hand in his own.

“Of course. I’ll see you after my classes. There’s some soup for you on the stove for whenever you get hungry.” Hunk patted his head and Lance smiled a little bit.

“Thank you.”

There was some quiet shuffling and once he was sure that Hunk had left the room, Lance tried to sleep. Suddenly his phone buzzed and he groaned quietly, opening it up and seeing a picture of him. Hunk had sent it to a group chat, stating something about how he was contagious. Lance threw his phone somewhere on his bed. Reaching towards his bedside table, he grabbed the cup of tea and drank a few sips.

Knowing him, he would probably let it go cold. Lance drank as much as he could, considering how terrible his throat felt before placing the cup down and curling back up underneath his covers. Making sure to curl in on himself as much as possible, Lance sighed and ignored the sunlight streaming into his room.

He closed his eyes again. This time he managed to fall asleep, taking a nap that he desperately needed.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Lance woke up again later in the morning. Grabbing his phone from his bedsheets and scrolling the messages, he saw that Pidge seemed to be making fun of him being sick. Both Keith and Shiro seemed to be concerned (the thought of a worried Keith made his heart flutter, for some reason. He didn’t know why).

Instead of replying with words, Lance took a selfie of himself. It was probably the worst selfie that he had ever taken. Lance sent it anyways. Pidge responded with several laughing emojis and Lance closed his eyes. He began to fall asleep again when his phone buzzed with a notification.

Mullet Man: are you okay??? You look super dead  
Mullet Man: Shiro spoke to Allura for you  
Mullet Man: do you need anything?

Hips don’t lie: hfo  
Hips don’t lie: sorry  
Hips don’t lie: everything’s kinda blurrry? Idk, i dont really need anything

Lance closed his eyes and tried to relax, not wanting to bother anyone. Pidge was still sending memes and other things to make fun of Lance being miserable. Lance tried to ignore them but it didn’t help that Keith kept messaging him too. He scrolled through the messages, reading them all with some weird sense of content. Although he was exhausted, he didn’t mind texting Keith.

It was too exhausting for Lance to really dig in deep as to why he just liked Keith so much. He just closed his eyes and took a nap, not bothering to hit send on his reply.   
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Lance woke up around early noon this time around. His phone was lighting up with messages and he looked over at the bedside counter. There was still a glass of water that Hunk had left him, so he leaned over and grabbed some pills to swallow with it.

He was pretty sure that it was just aspirin, which meant that it should break his fever. After a moment of just staring at his wall and feeling miserable, Lance picked up his phone and continued to feel miserable. Most of his texts were just the group chat, which Pidge was apparently going wild on that day. Shiro too. There were a lot of pictures of dogs and cats, making Lance wonder just where Shiro was.

Mullet Man: Hunk told me that you’ll probably be passing out a lot  
Mullet Man: I had early classes, so I’m coming over  
Mullet Man: because i don’t want you to fucking die

Lance read the texts a few times over and over before realizing what it meant. It hadn’t been sent that long ago, which just made him curious as to when Keith would arise. Deciding not to worry that much about it, Lance just flopped down onto the bed, which ended up being a bad decision. He winced at the heavy feeling in the back of his head, tugging his bed sheets up and sighing.

It would be so easy to fall back asleep. Lance closed his eyes and relaxed again, hating how his body felt heavy and sluggish. He was already half asleep when someone knocked on his door. Lance hoped that it was a murderer so he would finally be put out of his misery.

As he dragging himself up, he regretted turning the heat so low. Now he was cold, and he supposed that Hunk hadn’t fiddled with it before he left. Lance wrapped the blankets around his shoulders, dragging himself over to the front door slowly. Thankfully he wasn’t as dizzy as he was before, which meant that he could walk in a relatively straight line.

Lance looked through the peephole, opening the door when he saw Keith standing outside.

“You look way shittier than the pictures showed,” Keith commented, blinking at him. “Can I come in?”

“You can, but may you?” Lance asked, and Keith just glared and pushed past him. Lance let out a small whine. “Don’t knock me around like that. I’m weak and fragile. One push just might kill me.” Lance held the blankets tighter around himself. He was shivering and Keith pulled off his boots, looking at Lance.

“You have some wit still, at least.” Keith actually looked relieved. “Do you have a fever?” Keith asked, pressing his hand (his nails were still painted, Lance noted) against Lance’s face the same way that Hunk had earlier that morning. “Yeah, you do. Have you taken anything?”

“Aspirin,” Lance answered, “You didn’t have to come here.”

He wondered why Keith had come over. Lance was pretty capable of taking care of himself. It’s not as if he couldn’t work a microwave when he was sick. “I’m slightly capable.”

Keith shrugged his shoulders. “I figured that I might as well help you. Besides, I had nothing better to do.”

“Don’t you have rehearsal today?” Lance asked him, furrowing his brows. He didn’t want Keith to skip because of him. Unlike Lance, Keith was a main character.

“No. It was just ensemble dancers, remember? And Shiro.” Keith moved deeper into the apartment and Lance trailed along behind him. “Apparently he’s needed, I don’t know why.” Keith looked at him, watching how Lance shivered. “Go lay down on the couch. I’ll put up the heat and make you some tea.”

“How long are you staying?” His voice wasn’t incredibly loud since his throat was so sore. Lance shuffled over to the couch and plopped down on the cushions.

“Until Hunk comes home? I don’t know.” Keith sounded unsure and Lance hummed quietly, closing his eyes. He mumbled a quiet ‘okay’ before letting himself relax again. It wasn’t the first time that he had fallen asleep with Keith in his house. The last time wasn’t that long ago and he had woken up with a headache.

Lance’s eyes snapped open.

How long had he been sick?

Was he sick then?

“Wait, dude.” Lance sat up as fast as he could. Keith poked his head out of the kitchen, eyebrows raised. “What if I get you sick?”

“I don’t get sick easily,” Keith brushed him off. “I have a pretty good immune system. Besides, we’re not doing anything that would cause the sickness to spread.”

Lance considered what he said. He wasn’t really sure if he believed that, but he laid back down anyway.

“Are you hungry? There’s still soup on the stove I can reheat for you,” Keith called from the kitchen. Lance had closed his eyes again. His stomach felt uncomfortable and tight at the thought of food, but he was hungry.

“Yeah,” Lance spoke up as loud as he was able too. His throat burned. “Soup sounds good.” He heard Keith messing around in the kitchen. Lance began to fall asleep yet again.

He wasn’t sure how long he was asleep, but Keith’s hand was gently shaking him awake and he smelled food. Lance forced his eyes open and stared at Keith, who was kneeling in front of him on the floor.

“Sorry,” Keith said, looking apologetic. “I just want to make sure that you eat something.” Keith was frowning a little bit and Lance sat up slowly, still staring down at Keith. He eventually set the soup down and stood up before just sitting down on the couch next to Lance.

Lance carefully took the soup, looking at Keith as he turned on the TV. “Thanks,” Lance said softly, stirring the soup with his spoon. Keith shrugged.

“It’s no big deal. Like I said, I don’t want you to die.”

Keith was weird. Lance felt so weird. He blew on the soup since it was hot as hell before carefully drinking (or was it considered eating? Lance never knew and he especially didn’t know now) the soup. Keith didn't say anything else as Lance worked on the soup, finishing it rather quick since he hadn't eaten all day. Despite being so sick he still had a slight appetite.

Lance snuggled into the covers around him more, paying attention as the painters in Skin Wars rushed for the mini challenge. “I'm so happy Mythica is gone,” he chirped. Keith nodded in agreement. Neither Lance or Keith went to put away the empty bowl. Lance tried to get as comfortable as he could on the couch with Keith. He was tempted to lay on him but he was unsure if he would be cool with that, especially considering how sick Lance was.

“I think Natalie is going to win,” Lance remarked, noting how stuffy he sounded.

“I still think Dutch is going to win. He's easily the most experienced person on the show,” Keith replied, and Lance scooted closer. Keith didn't say anything -- or he didn't notice Lance scooting closer and closer until they were touching. He could easily ask Keith to cuddle with him, but he also would rather just snuggle up and observe how Keith reacted from that.

“Experience doesn't mean that he’ll automatically win. Someone can be super experienced but the judges seem to be more about those who are changing and growing,” Lance added on, shifting so that he was pressed against Keith’s side, curling up once he was comfortable. Keith stiffened up but he didn't comment, just moving so that he (Lance was guessing) was more comfortable himself.

“Well, yeah, but he's a technical beast. Besides, RuPal doesn't have the credentials to be judging this show.”

Lance listened to Keith talk, feeling the vibrations from his voice on his chest.

“That's true, but also shut up?” Lance couldn't come up with another argument. He just snuggled up even more on Keith, who was laughing now. Lance shifted his head a little bit to try and see him laugh before he just settled back in the position he was in.

Quietly, Lance mumbled, “I'm still cheering for Natalie.”

Keith didn't reply but Lance was pretty sure he was shaking his head. Lance was still shivering but not much as before. He closed his eyes, letting out a small sigh. The show became background noise and Lance quickly fell asleep where he was.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
Lance woke up not long after he had fallen asleep. It was a different episode of Skin Wars but it seemed to have just started and he was still cuddled against Keith. They had changed positions (did Keith move him when he was sleeping?) but Lance didn't really care much. There was a hand tapping gently on his arm. It was a rhythm he didn't recognize.

Letting his head fall back on Keith’s chest, Lance stretched the best he could and Keith looked at him. The tapping stopped and Lance sort of missed it.

“Hey, you passed out for a little bit there.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Lance mumbled again.

“It's okay. You're sick, so I'm expecting you to fall asleep.”

Lance made a noncommittal noise. Keith didn't move from the little snuggle pile of sheets that they have made. Keith didn't appear to be under the ones Lance was bundled up in, but he did somehow get the couch blanket. How hard had Lance been sleeping?

“Where's my phone? Who won the last episode?”

Keith handed him his phone. “I think Sharon won.”

Lance nodded his head, seeing a few messages from Hunk. He responded that he was alive and well and that Keith hadn't somehow killed him.

“How do you feel?” Keith asked him, and Lance shrugged his shoulders.

“Shitty.”

“Need anything?” Keith offered.

Lance looked at the coffee table. He still had water, and tea that was probably cold by now. He shook his head.

“No.” Lance didn't want Keith to get up. Keith was warm that day. He could tell even through the dozens of sheets he had. Besides, Lance liked snuggling.

“Tell me when you do.” Keith looked at him and Lance nodded his head. Keith still had his arm around him and he had begun to tap out the rhythm again. Lance didn't want to fall asleep again even though he knew it would probably be best for him to get some more rest. He just wanted to lay with Keith and watch Skin Wars.

After a few moments he began to shift around again. There was something sharp poking at him and it didn't help that he was pretty thin everywhere but his shoulders.

“You're fidgety.” Keith shifted too.

“Yeah, sorry,” Lance laughed a little bit. “There's just something in your pocket that's poking me,” he admitted.

“Oh.”

Keith shifted again and grabbed whatever it was. He pulled out his keys. “I didn't even think of those. Sorry.”

Lance shook his head and settled back down.

He was perfectly content, shifting only once so that he was more pressed up against Keith, who didn't seem to mind at all. There weren't anymore words passed between them. Maybe Keith was waiting for Lance to fall asleep again. Lance was actually okay with them not talking for once. The silence felt nice, considering how weird everything else felt.

Keith was still tapping out that rhythm. He wasn't sure if his fever had broken or not, but the rhythm was so nice and Keith’s presence was even better. Just laying there was nice, and eventually Lance did fall asleep for good this time.

 

 


	17. ACT 2, SCENE 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter late but here It is

A loud and sudden crash reached Lance’s ears and he shot up. That was an immediate mistake, since he was hit with a dizzying wave when he moved. It was warm in the apartment but it was the type of warm that he needed. Lance heard people talking, and music playing quietly from somewhere in the apartment. It was light outside and Lance squinted out the window. Did he sleep the entire night? Did he really just pass out like nothing on top of Keith and sleep the entire night?

Lance gathered the blankets around his body. Keith still had boots in the doorway, so he was definitely still there. Hunk’s voice was familiar and Lance could detect it from miles away. He got off of the couch slowly, going towards where he heard the voices.

Hunk and Keith were sitting on Hunk’s bed, quietly talking. It seemed like Hunk was showing Keith pictures, and Lance paused and stared for a moment because Keith looked great when he smiled like that. Really good.

His mouth felt like cotton and he tried to swallow. “Hey,” Lance rasped, feeling the words tug at his throat.

Both of them sat up and looked at him. A gentler smile was on Keith’s face now, and Hunk smiled at him the way that he always did. “You’re up!” Hunk was grinning. “How did you sleep, buddy? You were passed out for a long time.”

“I slept fine. Am I allowed to sit next to you guys or am I quarantined?” Lance asked them, looking at the spot on the bed and then back at them.

Keith shrugged his shoulders. “You can sit here. If Hunk is cool with it.”

Hunk nodded his head. “You know I don’t care about that. Besides, I came home and you were drooling on top of Keith, so it’s not like he hasn’t come into contact with your germs already.” Hunk wiggled his eyebrows and Lance sat down. Lance looked at Keith before leaning on his shoulder.

“I feel wounded, usually we cuddle,” Hunk sighed, being over-dramatic.

“Keith is right here,” Lance responded. He nuzzled Keith’s shoulder without thinking about it. Keith stiffened again, but relaxed quickly.

“Anyways, let’s get back to showing pictures.” Hunk grabbed the album again. Hunk had almost gotten into scrapbooking, but he had decided that it wasn’t for him and just settled for keeping regular photo albums.

“Which ones are you showing him?” Lance asked, words muffled against Keith’s shoulder. He closed his eyes even though he had just woken up. His body felt so heavy and Lance felt incredibly tired all the time. He just wanted to go back to cuddling and sleeping.

The bed creaked a little when Hunk shifted. Given the fact that there were three people on the bed, that wasn’t surprising. “The last time that I went to Hawai’i,” Hunk said. “Back when I was just a small little guy.” He sighed almost wistfully. Lance opened his eyes and looked at Hunk with an amused expression on his face.

“You were seventeen,” Lance told him. Hunk was never small. Other than being a child, he and Lance had been pretty much the same in height. Hunk was also the friend who could easily do push ups with you on his back, or squat with you a whole lot.

“Just a small little guy,” Hunk repeated. Truthfully, Hunk had barely changed since they were younger. It hadn’t even been that long ago. It had been in the summer before their senior year that Hunk had left for Hawai’i. He was gone the entire summer and Lance had been extremely lonely without him.

“Sure, buddy.” Lance picked his head up and yawned. He placed it back down after a moment and Keith rested his head on top of Lance’s.

“What’s Hawai’i like?” Keith asked Hunk. “I haven’t had the chance to travel much.”

“It’s humid, but really pretty. I love the beaches. It just feels like home to me. Hawai’i is just really cool in general. Although a lot of it is touristy, which is kind of annoying. But the food! The food is the best. I should make something from home for you guys. Maybe we can invite Shiro and Matt too.”

“Do you think it’ll end up like last time?” Lance asked. He had placed his arm around Keith’s waist. Keith had done the same without a word.

“What happened last time?” Keith spoke up, sounding confused.

“Pidge and Matt ended up getting into a food fight and they broke a lamp that I made.”

“It was epic, but really messy.” Lance remembered how sudden it had been. “And Hunk still hasn't forgotten about that lamp.” (“It was a good lamp! A great lamp!”)

Keith was silent. “Wait, is that when Shiro came home with potatoes dripping off of him?”

Lance and Hunk both let out sad, deep sighs. “Those were good potatoes. But then Pidge just had to go and fling peas at Matt. So naturally it turned into something way larger than it was supposed to be.” Hunk sounded so disappointed.

“They were good potatoes, bro. You tried so hard on all that food.” Lance sat up slowly and reached across Keith’s lap. He patted Hunk’s arm. “When do you think we should drag everyone together?” Lance settled for just laying in Keith’s lap. “When are you free?” Lance looked up at Keith from where he laid.

“Well, at this point I have rehearsal with you every day, since the musical is getting closer. I’m pretty much free most of the evenings, though. I would prefer a Friday night. I think Shiro is the same way. His date night with Matt is Saturday,” Keith told Hunk and Lance.

“Do you have everyone’s schedules memorized?” Lance asked, relaxing like a cat when Keith ran his fingers through his hair.

“Pretty much. It’s not really hard,” Keith confirmed. Lance closed his eyes and hummed, not sure what to say in response.

“Okay, cool! I’ll just message everyone when I want the dinner to happen and see if a date works for everyone else,” Hunk chirped, sounding excited at the prospect. Dinner parties were hard to arrange. “I can invite Shay! Well, I’m going to invite her anyways, but maybe if Shay is there there’ll be less risk of things going to hell? I’m hope so. She’s the sweetest.” Hunk let out a dreamy sigh.

Lance was pretty sure that Hunk was in love with Shay at this point. He found it adorable. He was happy that his best friend was happy.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Lance opened his eyes when Keith spoke. Keith was smiling a lot. It made Lance happy to see that. He turned onto his side and just buried his head in Keith’s stomach. Lance was tired and he wanted to sleep again, but a large part of him was trying to stay awake.

“I'll go and take stock to see what we’re going to need. You should go back to bed, Lance,” Hunk instructed him, and Lance let out a whine. He slowly sat up.

“I don't wanna,” Lance whined, again.

“You're falling asleep,” Keith pointed out.

“So? That still doesn't mean I have to go back to bed.” Lance was pouting. Keith stared at him for a moment and Lance looked away.

“I guess I can't force you to go to sleep, but we’re not staying in Hunk’s room.” Keith stood up and Lance wobbled to his feet. He still had the blankets tightly wrapped around him. “Let’s just go and do something else.” After a moment of thinking, Lance nodded his head and followed Keith out of Hunk’s room.

Doing something else just meant either sitting in the kitchen or sitting in the living room. Lance watched Hunk and Keith go at it several times in a video game. He was the designated scorekeeper of the two of them.

“Are you making sure to keep your bias out of this?” Keith asked, frustrated that Hunk was beating him by two.

“Yes, definitely,” Lance told him. “I’m not biased at all in this situation. You suck and Hunk is crushing you.” Lance patted his shoulder and Keith looked up at him from where he sat on the floor. He rolled his eyes before glancing at the time.

“One more match and I should probably go home,” Keith sighed.

“Noooo,” Lance protested. “I don’t want you to leave.” Hunk snorted into his hand and Lance looked at him, confused as to why he snorted like that. Keith blinked at him slowly, the way that he always did whenever he was confused. Lance found it very cute, and he wondered if it was just him. Keith was a very cute person overall. Or maybe Lance was just weird.

“Lance, I sort of need a shower,” Keith said, his confused expression fading into something that was way too smug for Lance’s liking.

“Right, yeah, you should leave. I was wondering if the smell was me or you.” He still felt sticky with sweat from his last fever.Lance looked at the two of them. Hunk was making a face that made Lance want to glare at him and Keith switched from looking smug to looking amused.

“In that case, I’ll see you later.” Keith hauled himself up from the couch and gathered his things. He tugged on his boots and gave Hunk and Lance a small wave as he exited the apartment.

After a short pause, Hunk smiled. “I think we’re friends now. Keith is actually pretty cool! I can see why you like him.”

“Yeah, he’s a bit weird, but hanging out with him isn’t bad at all,” Lance conceded.

“No, why you like him. Like-like him,” Hunk sang, wiggling his eyebrows as Lance furrowed his.

“What?”

“You know... Don’t tell me you’re this oblivious towards your own feelings.” Hunk shook his head. “Is this tenth grade all over again? I don’t want to go through this and explain everything to you until you realize what exactly I’m talking about.”

Lance stared at him for a moment before connecting the dots in his head.

Lance let out a laugh. It was a bit short and it was raspy because his throat still hurt. “I don’t have a crush on Keith. I like him, but only as a friend,” Lance told Hunk, then fell silent as his thoughts whirled in his head. All of a sudden he felt unsure if he only liked Keith as a friend. Lance did find him really pretty, and he really liked to wrap himself around Keith, and he had the largest urge to kiss Keith on the mouth and pull him even closer.

Lance became very interested in his feet. “Oh, shit,” Lance whispered. “Hunk, what am I going to do?” He turned towards his friend in a panic. “What if he doesn’t like me back? What if he just think I’m being weird and obsessive and touchy?”

“Lance, dude,” Hunk began, “I’m pretty sure Keith is riding the “Lance Train”. Or at least he wants to.”

“Lance Train?”

“You said it once while we were smashed. I found it funny and I think about it a lot, but that’s not the point,” Hunk said seriously. “I think Keith has a thing for you. Or hell, maybe he thinks that the two of you already are a thing. He supposedly doesn’t mind it when Pidge sleeps on him, but he’s not the most affectionate person, from what everyone else has said. Also, does Keith look like the cuddling type to you?”

“Okay, but I sort of force affection on everyone,” Lance pointed out to him. “Damn, I don’t know how I’m going to handle being around him without being clingy!” Lance pressed his hands against his face and sighed loudly. “You know how I get when I realize that I have a crush on someone.”

Hunk laughed and Lance glared at him. He stopped laughing, but there was still a small smile. “Sorry,” he apologized with a small chuckle. “You just become such a mess that it’s almost overwhelming. You should just try to remain calm and not be really weird about him.”

That wasn’t the most best advice Lance had ever gotten. Hell, it wasn’t even that helpful, but he nodded his head and took it anyways because he didn’t have anyone else to talk to about it.

“Should I ask him to hang out again? I feel that I should, considering that we’re already constantly around each other.”

“Do you want to be alone with him?” Hunk asked, then stuck his hand up in a way to tell Lance that he shouldn’t say anything, “Wait, no. Let me rephrase that. Do you want to be alone with him after you realize that you like him?” Hunk asked him the full question this time around and Lance considered it.

“I mean, I have to be alone with him at some point, don’t I? I can’t avoid him, since that’ll just be unfair towards him and put us both in an awkward position. Plus--” Lance broke into a loud coughing fit before he could continue--“plus, that’s totally something that happens in fanfictions, or whatever. You know what I’m talking about.”

“You are pretty bad at communicating. Think of it this way! It makes for a good kiss after.”

“You’re asexual.”

“I can still appreciate a good kiss! Nothing wrong with that, and some writers can really write well,” Hunk exclaimed, gesturing with his hands. “And I’m saying that as someone who mainly reads fanfiction of obscure cartoons from the 80s.”

Lance hummed in consideration before getting up slowly. His head felt dizzy when he did that. “I’m going to take a shower and think about everything.”

“Do you think you’ll ask him out?” Hunk looked up at him as he stood. Lance looked down at him, leaning on the couch so that he didn’t fall over. He hated being sick because his legs were so weak. “He’s a bit edgy, but I think you’ll be happy with him. You seemed pretty content when he was still here.”

“Maybe,” Lance mumbled, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know if I’m going to. Won’t it be weird?” He wondered if Keith would even want to date him. Lance was a mess, and he also knew that Keith was a mess. It didn’t mean that they should be messes together. He figured that he should just sleep on it.

“I think it’ll be good for you, but that’s just one man’s opinion, and I don’t really know if it’s a solid one. I’m your best friend; I just want to see you happy.”

“I get you, buddy. That’s all I want for you.” Lance smiled. “But I’m really gross right now, so I’m going to go and shower.”

Lance walked away from the living room and headed towards the bathroom, where he took a shower that was quick enough for him to get the dried sweat off of his body.

There were fifteen text messages on his phone when he got out of the shower. Lance went to his room and burrowed under the sheets.

HIps don’t lie: I’m alive, Keith and Hunk made sure of it  
Gremlin: what else did keith take care of, lol..

Lance wondered if he had changed Pidge’s name. Did he? Didn’t matter to him; he liked the name.

Hips don’t lie: Other than making sure i didn’t dehydrate and faint at random times? He suddenly turned into a space heater so he made sure i wasn’t freezing too  
Gremlin: ;)   
Gremlin: ;)  
Hunksome: Pidge stop it, you’re twelve.  
Gremlin: don’t tell me to stop  
Gremlin: lol  
Hips don’t lie: I am very confused and uncomfortable  
Hips don’t lie: ??? what did keith say happened  
Gremlin: he said the same thing  
Gremlin: i can’t tease you now?  
Hunksome: Be gentle, Pidge. He just realized his feelings.

Lance buried his face in his pillow. He wished he could go back to the day before, where he was just sleeping all day and snuggling against Keith. His face felt hot and he wondered if he was running a fever or if it was the embarrassment that he felt because of Pidge.

Gremlin: Oh wowwwwwwww  
Gremlin: i don’t understand romance  
Hips don’t lie: i’m now ignoring you both

Lance muted the group chat and heard Hunk whining his name from the living room. The last two days had been so eventful, considering that he had the flu and realized that he had a crush on a close friend of his. It had been both good and embarrassing for him. Lance turned onto his side and looked at his phone again.

He was tempted to text Keith, wondering if he got home safe. Lance was pretty sure that he did. The temptation was strong, but Lance ignored it and glanced at the time. He should take a nap. If he felt this much better, than sleeping would be really good for him. Against his previous judgment, he texted Keith anyway.

Lancelot: Do we have rehearsal tmrw?  
Mulder: Yeah, do you think you’ll be well enough to make it?

Did everyone change nicknames?

Lancelot: Should be  
Lancelot: Thanks a lot btw for making sure I didn’t die and do anything stupid (also, unintentionally keeping fever dreams away)  
Mulder: Anytime

Lance thought that was a weird thing to say, but it might just be Keith being a good friend. He didn’t want to read into it because he now had a crush on Keith. He would just end up making himself build something that probably wasn’t there. Or maybe there was something there, but he didn’t want to create false hope.

His fingers hovered over his phone before he finally decided on what to send to Keith.

Lancelot: Hopefully not again soon  
Mulder: Hopefully you didn’t get me sick  
Lancelot: I thought you said that you were ~Immune~  
Mulder: there’s the chance that I’m not immune  
Lancelot: Its not like we kissed or anything, just cuddled like two friendly dudes  
Mulder: True  
Mulder: but still  
Lancelot: lmao alright Keith  
Lancelot: I’m going to take a nap  
Mulder: Good

Again, Lance placed his phone down and settled into the sheets. He hoped that this was the last nap that he had while feeling like complete and other shit. 


	18. ACT 2, SCENE 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the hiatus, I've been exhausted and haven't felt well I also started a job (while doing track and school, pls kill me)  
> 

Being aware that he had a crush on Keith and trying not to react to it was pretty difficult. Lance did not realize how much he liked Keith until he realized that he like-liked Keith. But now that he had connected the thoughts, Lance was overwhelmed with just how much he liked Keith and just how much he found him attractive too. It was hard for him to focus on his own movements when Keith just looked so good.

Lance looked away from him and instead focused on other things and people. They were all a little sweaty since the lights were beaming down on them. Shiro kept fidgeting with his prosthetic arm, he tried not to stare at that either but the other caught him. “It sometimes gets itchy when there’s sweat,” Shiro told him. “Have no idea why I’m sweating this much.”

“Probably because they have the heat at 100 degrees in here, not including the lights,” Lance huffed out in a small laugh.

“Are you sure you’re okay to be here? With all the heat and then it being freezing outside, you’re still recovering from being sick aren’t you?” Shiro asked him and Lance shrugged his shoulders.

“I should be fine. I have my jacket, but I’m just hoping that I don’t fall because of the ice,” Lance admitted. Shiro nodded his head and Lance wondered what it was like for him getting used to having no arm. Shiro was pretty fucking bad ass since he was able to do all kinds of shit without breaking a sweat. Meanwhile, Lance was wheezing on the floor if he ran up the stairs. It was pathetic, he had to admit that. He was a dancer, but cardio was still terrible for him.

Allura was calling them to attention again and they all moved forward. Lance flopped down on the stage. He leaned forward with his hands on his ankles, looking at Allura as she got into her ‘I’m the director and I’ll bite you if you don’t listen to me’ pose.

“I expect you all to have your lines and songs memorized by next week. We don’t have a whole lot of time until the musical is going to be put on. We will need all of the help that we could get in order to build sets this Saturday, so if any of you guys can come that would be greatly appreciated,” Allura crossed her arms over her chest.

“If you guys could also double check with some people to make sure that they’re doing the show, that would be great as well,” Coran told them. While everyone in the theater community was required to work on at least three shows, and everyone had to work backstage, it was voluntary on what shows people worked on. Lance was relieved that it wasn’t like in high school where people promised to work with the show and then backed out last minute.

Everyone let out mumbled noises of confirmation. “Alright, let’s do this scene one more time and then you should all be able to go home. If we do the scene right.” There was a sort of cold look in Allura’s eyes that showed that if they didn’t get it right they would be in so much trouble.

Lance got up from where he sat, getting into position like everyone else. He tried not to let himself get distracted with Keith or with Shiro. Keith was way more distracting, Shiro was just one of the friends that Lance stared at automatically because he didn’t seem to mind it.

The scene went smoothly and Lance was surprised by how sweaty he was. He wondered if he was becoming less and less healthy. His cardio seemed to be so bad at the moment, but he was also technically recovering from being sick. Recovering was so dumb, though, and Lance let out a quiet groan as he slid off of the stage and went to grab his jacket.

Glancing around, he avoided looking at that other ensemble member who once flirted him. Then he looked over at where Shiro and Keith were talking. Keith looked over at him and gestured for him to come closer. Lance paused for a moment and went over to them. “Hey,” he greeted them.

Shiro grinned at him and Keith smiled. Lance felt his heart flutter, almost embarrassingly so. Lance tried not to be obvious about him liking Keith, but it was so much harder now.

“Need a ride home?” Keith asked him and Lance paused before nodding his head.

“Yeah, that’ll be nice actually,” Lance smiled at them both. “Thanks.”

“Don’t think me, completely his idea,” Shiro put his hands up as he looked over at Keith. Keith didn’t have a reaction to what Shiro said, which sort of disappointed Lance. He wanted to see Keith blush. “Do you have everything that you need?”

Lance nodded his head, “Yeah I do.” Keith didn’t say anything and Lance pressed his lips together. Was there something wrong? What did he do? Or was Keith just in one of his weird edgy moods? He followed Shiro and Keith towards the entrance of the auditorium. Lance pulled on his jacket, zipping it up and shuffling over to where the car was. “What inspired you to give me a ride today?” he asked, his tone teasing.

“I didn’t want you to risk getting sick again while walking home,” Keith mumbled and this time he did blush. Was he embarrassed by offering Lance a ride? In his opinion, Keith didn’t have anything to be embarrassed by. After all, Lance had literally drooled all over him in his sleep and Keith didn’t seem to mind then, so he didn’t know why he would mind giving him a ride.

Shiro had a weird smile on his face. Lance stared at the two of them and wondered if some weird brother thing was happening. He understood weird brother things, he had sibling moments all of the time. It was a strange feeling to be out of the sibling moment.

“Fuck, it’s cold,” Lance hissed to himself when he slid into the back seat. Shiro sat in the front seat and started up the car. Lance buckled the seat belt, not nervous at all about driving with the black ice (he was totally nervous, he was scared to death of black ice and driving).

“Do you want to switch seats? These ones have warmers on them,” Keith looked back at him. Lance shook his head.

“No, I’ll be okay. I’ll just sit on my hands. Don’t worry,” Lance gave him a small smile. Keith was still staring at him but then he nodded his head, looking forward. They just sat in the car for a moment before beginning to drive. He guessed that Keith was going to Shiro’s house and that was why they were driving together.

“If you’re sure,” Keith turned around as Shiro began to drive. He stared out the window, none of them talked. It was really nice, actually. The drive back to his place wasn’t very long. Lance unbuckled the seat belt.

“Hey, wait, quick question,” Shiro turned around. “Are we going to play games at the dinner?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Lance nodded his head.

“Cool. We got the new expansion pack of Cards Against Humanity,” Shiro grinned at him. “I’ve been trying to find the best options for the amputee related cards,” he sounded incredibly proud about that.

“Bring it,” everyone loved Cards. Who didn’t love Cards? “Thanks for driving me,” Lance got out of the car and waved at them before he went inside. As soon as he got up to his apartment, he threw his shoes off and headed towards the shower. He was disgustingly sweaty and was just hoping that he didn’t have a fever again. (It turned out that he didn’t have a fever, he was just sweating more than usual).  
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The small dinner get-together was at the end of the week. Lance felt pretty much perfect by then, although he was getting exhausted from the constant rehearsals. He flopped on the couch, waiting for Hunk to come back with the groceries so that he could help him out with cooking. Hunk was the main chef of their friendship, but Lance didn’t mind cooking either. It was fun and he had to do it a lot if there was the rare occasion he was home alone with his younger siblings.

The front door opened and he jumped off of the couch, going to greet Hunk like a dog would. Minus the jumping on him thing. As soon as the other walked into the apartment, Lance took some of the bags from Hunk’s hand. “Welcome back,” Lance greeted him before walking over to the kitchen.

Hunk took off his shoes, picking up the groceries again then heading to the kitchen along with Lance. They both placed the groceries down on the counter. “Thanks! We should start cooking. Pidge said they’re showing up early.”

“How rude of them,” Lance joked.

“They’re so demanding,” Hunk was also joking, a shake of his head and a small laugh. Lance smiled too, putting away the groceries they weren’t using (they barely had anything in the house because Lance couldn’t keep food down for a good while and Hunk just avoided going to the store).

“Little gremlin.” Lance opened up a package carefully, Hunk watching him in case it spilled all over the place. Nothing happened other than the bag opening, so Hunk relaxed. “What time are they coming over?” Lance asked.

“They said around five?” Hunk sounded unsure.

“Alright, then we’ll have something for them to snack on. And it’s probably at that point where I’ll abandon you because Pidge needs constant attention.”

“No, they don’t, you do,” Hunk rolled his eyes, “You just want their constant attention because I ignore you when I cook.”

“I need attention or I will die, Hunk,” Lance stated seriously, helping out as much as Hunk would let him.

“No, you don’t,” Hunk sighed, “Shay is coming over tonight. I’m kinda nervous. It’s not like she hasn’t chilled with all of us before but it’s the first time that we’re hanging out here with everyone? I don’t know why I’m nervous.” Hunk tended to fret over simple things in Lance’s opinion. But Lance couldn’t blame him since he cried over dumb things all of the time and Hunk was always there for him.

Lance hummed, leaning on the kitchen counter. “Is this the first time you’re preparing a full on meal for her?”

“Well, no, not technically I mean.”

“Is it the first time it has to do with your culture?” Lance asked, noting the way Hunk stiffened a little and then nodded.

“Yeah, I guess. Maybe I’m being too extra about this? I mean, I love my culture--don’t get me wrong--but what if the food tastes weird to her?” Hunk asked him worriedly.

Lance waved his hand, “I get it completely. I mean, the first time you tried my mother’s cooking, I was a mess since I was nervous, but it’ll be fine. She’ll love it. It’s good food and it’s not, like, filled with anything that’s super out there. And even if it was, you’ll cook it well enough that everything would balance out.”

Hunk let out a small sigh. It was shaky, but there was some relief on his face. “You’re right my food is bomb, and this food, in general, is bomb.” Lance gave him a small smile and clapped him on the back.

“Correct, now, let’s get started, alright?” Lance told him. Hunk nodded his head and Lance was glad to see that he looked determined to just do his best and make the best food that he possibly could.  
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Pidge did arrive around five. They came empty-handed (which wasn’t a surprise) and shucked off their shoes and jacket before going head first into the couch. Lance looked at them. “Not even a hello,” he sighed dramatically. “I guess I could expect worse from you, Pidge, but has the bar come this low?”

“Hello,” Pidge’s voice was muffled from the pillow cushions. They rolled over so that they were on their back.

“Hi, Pidge!” Hunk called from the kitchen.

“Hey, Hunk,” They sounded just as enthusiastic as they did when greeting Lance.

Lance sat down on the couch, shifting Pidge’s feet so that they weren’t taking up his spot (they were small, but not small enough to not take nearly all of the couch). “How did you get here?” Lance asked them, turning on the TV and setting up Mario Kart. Pidge watched him silently for a moment, flexing their toes.

“I took the bus. I wasn’t far away, so I didn’t find it worth it to meet up with Matt, Shiro, and Keith,” Pidge shrugged their shoulders and Lance nodded his head in understanding.

“Here,” he handed them the remote.

“Mario Kart?”

“I’m in a Rainbow Road mood.”

“You won’t be when the others come,” Pidge snorted. “You suck ass at this game.”

“That’s why when the rest come I’m gonna make sure we work in teams,” Lance told them, sticking his tongue out as he carefully picked his character.

“There’s an uneven amount of us. Plus, you don’t have the right number of remotes for everyone to play.” Pidge’s voice was monotone.

“There will be an odd man out in every group.” His voice almost sounded bitter when he said this. It was a no-filter statement, impulsive and came out so fast that he couldn’t stop it in time.

Pidge looked at him oddly for a moment, and Lance felt a moment of insecurity. He felt as if they had questions. He knew they had questions. Honestly, Lance didn’t feel super excluded, at least, not a whole lot. Just sometimes when he felt like the rest all had more of a place than he did, but those feelings were getting better now.

Neither of them said anything for a moment. Pidge didn’t ask any questions. Lance didn’t offer any answers. They just played Mario Kart in silence until one of the computers threw a shell and Pidge cursed loudly, kicking Lance on instinct.

“Pidge!” Lance moved as far as he could from them, making his character go off of the road. Pidge let out a cackle and he glared at them.

“I didn’t even do that on purpose,” their squeaky little voice made Lance want to bite them. They sounded so proud of the fact that he fell off.

“I hate you so much, get out of my apartment right now,” Lance demanded with a small whine. Pidge just laughed again and he sunk lower and lower. He clutched onto the remote, trying to get back on track.

“You stick your tongue out when you’re thinking and it’s literally the weirdest thing,” Pidge teased him, poking him in the side. They were clearly attempting to get him to fail again. Lance tried to roll away from them but Pidge sat up more and more so that they could keep poking at him. The smell of food was filling the apartment, but Lance was more focused on trying not to die in Mario Kart.

There was a knock on his door somewhere during half-assed wrestling and Lance paused the game. “Get off me.” Lance wiggled away from Pidge, rolling onto the floor with a heavy thump. Pidge was snickering on the couch still as he got up and fixed his clothing. Lance opened the front door and smiled in greeting to Shay. “Hey! Come in.”

“Hello,” she greeted him, entering the house and taking her shoes off. “Hi, Pidge. Is Hunk in the kitchen?” She asked, and Lance nodded his head.

“Your man is over that way,” Lance smiled at Shay who smiled back and made her way over to Hunk. Lance joined Pidge back on the couch. Pidge bounced a little when he flopped onto it even though Lance wasn’t incredibly heavy.

“When are the trio of idiots arriving?” Pidge asked.

“Pidge, be nice. Shiro isn’t an idiot. Matt is. Keith is kind of an idiot, but it’s mainly Matt. And they should be here soon,” Lance answered, looking back at the screen. He could hear Hunk and Shay talking in the kitchen. Shay laughed and Lance didn’t hear whatever Hunk was saying, but she kept laughing.

“You’re right. Matt is really the idiot and he just happens to ruin Shiro,” they had no confidence in their brother, but they still sounded fond when speaking about him.

Lance nodded his head as they continued to play the game. They only got a few minutes in before there was another knock on the door. Pidge used that as an advantage and threw a shell at Lance’s character, making him skid around in the car. He also dropped several coins and whined, “Cheater.” He mumbled under his breath as he got up to answer the door. Pidge was smirking to themselves and he wondered how they had turned out to be so evil.

He answered the door, still pouting a little. The pout was gone when he saw the last three to arrive. “Hey,” Lance looked at all three of them. Keith gave him a small smile back and he moved out of their way so they could enter the apartment.

“Hi, guys!” Hunk poked his head out of the kitchen and so did Shay who gave them a small wave before the two went back to talk alone. Lance imagined that they were just talking at this point, not even cooking.

“It smells nice in here,” Shiro, ever the saint, smiled nicely and ignored the fact that Lance kept staring at Keith. Matt was instantly going over to his sibling, gripping them in a headlock. Pidge struggled against his arm. “Are you playing Mario Kart?” Shiro asked, sitting on the floor in front of the couch.

“Yeah,” Lance ignored the struggle going on on his couch. Matt really had Pidge stuck. Keith was standing towards the back of the couch and watching the two siblings wrestle.

“I think Pidge is going to kill Matt,” Keith commented and Lance looked at the two of them. Pidge had gotten free and Lance wrapped his arms around their waist before they could do anything stupid. He moved them towards the floor, next to Shiro who still looked really calm and collected. Lance wondered if he had already given up on keeping the two siblings at least remotely civil.

“Can you just chill? Both of you?” Lance sighed.

“They should be able to, right, Matt?” Shiro looked at his boyfriend who was still perched on the couch. Shiro placed his head between his knees, leaning against the front of the couch while he sat. Matt sighed and carded his fingers through his hair.

“As long as Pidge doesn’t try and cheat at Mario Kart.” Matt started making small braids in Shiro’s hair.

“They’ve already been trying, trust me,” Lance flopped on the old love seat in their living room. “Speaking of which, who wants to play? Pidge technically still won so my remote is up for grabs,” Keith was still standing and Lance gestured for him to sit next to him. When Keith sat down, Lance was quick to place his feet in his lap.

“I’ll play,” Keith shrugged his shoulders and Pidge passed him the remote that Lance had abandoned.

“Get ready to eat dirt, Keith,” Pidge stated.

“I think that would have been more menacing if you called me by my last name,” Keith watched as Pidge got them back to the choosing menu. He scanned the characters and Lance hummed silently when he chose the bone version of Yoshi. Of course, he went with the edgy one.

“Calling you Shirogane feels weird, Plus we call Shiro 'Shiro' instead of his first name,” Pidge said. “Isn’t it weird being called by your first name while Shiro is called by his last?”

“Not really,” Keith answered while he was fixing up the car.

“Broganes,” Lance said.

Keith looked at him and rolled his eyes, Lance gave him a grin. Shiro let out a snort but otherwise didn’t react. It wasn’t meant to be funny and it was just another thing he said on impulse. “That was stupid,” Keith commented and Lance shifted his position, sitting up and taking his feet off of Keith’s lap.

“It’s okay, Keith. What Lance lacks in jokes, he makes up for in having a great roommate.” Pidge was glaring at the screen.

“Are you making fun of Lance again?” Hunk asked as he and Shay finally joined them.

“They live,” Lance lifted his hands into the air dramatically.

“They were in the kitchen, not dead.” Matt finished braiding Shiro’s hair, or rather whatever hair he could braid.

Hunk sat down next to Matt while Shay sat down next to him. “Keith is beating Pidge. What a time to be alive,” Lance observed, glancing over at the couple who just joined them. “How long until it’s food time?”

“Should be soon,” Shay laid her head on Hunk’s shoulder. Lance liked hearing her talk. Her voice was soft. “Hunk said that you guys brought a card game?” She looked over at the three who had just arrived.

“Cards Against Humanity,” Shiro answered. “Have you never played it before?” Shay shook her head.

“You’re in for a wild ride then,” Matt said, wearing the same grin as Pidge.

“Did you guys bring the expansion pack or is it just the normal card game?” Lance asked them.

“We brought an expansion pack, I don’t know which one,” Shiro admitted with a small shrug. Keith had his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to beat Pidge in the race. The two of them had gone silent as they played. Lance wanted to kiss the spot where Keith’s brows were furrowed. Keith was biting down on his lower lip and Lance wanted to kiss the little indentation that his teeth were leaving. Lance just wanted to kiss Keith.

“I haven’t played Cards in forever,” Hunk stated, “It’s fun, though, sometimes it can get really messed up. I feel like it’s a great way to realize which of your friends have no boundaries.” The oven beeped and Hunk stood, “I’ll be right back and then we can probably eat food.”

“Probably?” Lance echoed.

“Most likely,” Hunk corrected himself enough for Lance to let out a pleased noise. Keith glanced at him, but then went straight back to focusing on the game. He was doing good so far and eventually won, breathing out a sigh of relief and leaning against the cushions.

“You were both so intense just now,” Shay commented.

“For good reason, Pidge is now the loser,” Lance replied and nudged Keith with his shoulder.

“You lost the first round, Lance,” Pidge rolled their eyes.

“Yes, but you've taken my place as the loser.”

“I think you’re still considered the loser, maybe even more of a loser now since Pidge lost to me and you lost to Pidge. So you lost to the loser,” Keith told him and Lance gave him a small glare (although, it had no actual heat behind it).

Lance was silent for a moment. “I am deeply hurt by your words, Keith,” he placed his hand over his heart. Matt let out a small whistle while Shiro had gone to the kitchen with Shay and Hunk to talk to the most mature people of their little group.

“You’ll recover,” Keith patted his shoulder and Lance sighed dramatically.

“You guys can come and get food now, if you want,” Hunk came out of the kitchen and Lance got up quickly to get food. Keith stood up, stretching. Lance’s eyes fell to the small sliver of his stomach he saw when he raised his arms up, bringing his shirt up with him. He tried not to stare and just went to the kitchen. It wasn’t big enough for all of them to fit in there, so Matt and Pidge hung around outside, talking to each other and Lance exited the kitchen and hung around outside too.

It didn’t take very long for everyone to get food. Matt had gone fishing for the Cards Against Humanity and brought them out as they all sat around in the living room. Lance chewed silently when Matt brought out the large stack of cards that he had brought.

Keith and Lance were sitting close to each other. Their thighs were touching and Lance glanced at him for a moment. “Should we wait until we’re done eating or should I start dealing them out now?” Matt asked them all.

“You can start dealing them now,” Hunk told him. “Which expansion pack did you bring?”

“The Green Box,” Matt answered as he looked at the cards.

Lance ate faster than he usually did, but then so did everyone else, unless Matt just always ate this fast which may be the case since Pidge constantly was trying to steal things from Lance’s plate when the two of them ate close enough together. It took them about an hour to actually eat and clean everything up, Matt had dealt out the cards and Shay looked down at the ones she had in her hands. Her brows were furrowed and she seemed a little amused by what she saw.

He glanced at his cards and was glad that he had a decent cards. Lance kept glancing over at Keith, still wanting to kiss him. Keith seemed to be catching on about midway into the game since every time Lance would look over, Keith would look back. Keith didn’t scoot away and neither did Lance. They just kept sitting close and staring at each other.

The others didn’t seem to notice and if they did, they didn’t comment on it.  
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Hanging out went well into the night and Pidge had agreed to go home with their brother and Shiro. Shay was staying over and Lance was wondering if he should ask Keith to spend the night.

“You going home with Pidge, Shiro, and Matt?” Lance asked Keith. Keith looked at him for a moment. “I wouldn’t mind if you stayed over. I know Shay is staying the night too.”

“Are you sure?” Keith asked him, looking a little surprised by the offer. Lance wondered if Keith knew that Lance was into him and if he was creeped out by the offer.

“I know that you live close by, but it’s late and you do have a ride but-” Lance shrugged. He knew that there wasn’t a real reason for Keith to stay over. After a beat, Keith nodded.

“Sure, I’ll stay over- if you’re really cool with it,” Keith looked him over.

“Completely cool with it.” Lance smiled at him.

“We’re going to be heading out. Are you coming with us?” Shiro asked his younger brother.

“No, I’m spending the night. Drive safely.” They then said their goodbyes. Pidge yawned a goodbye to everyone in general and Matt was surprisingly chipper as he said goodbye. The three of them left, so Hunk and Shay went off again to go and cuddle or something.

“I’ll set the couch up for you,” Lance said. There was an odd look on Keith’s face for a moment, but he nodded his head. He didn’t think about it, just setting up the couch for the other. “Goodnight,” he told the other once everything was set up.

“Goodnight,” Keith replied. Lance went to his own bedroom.

Was he being obvious? He hoped he wasn’t obvious.


	19. ACT 2, SCENE 7

Lance woke up randomly around two a.m. His eyes fluttered open on their own. Thankfully, Lance didn’t feel sticky or hot. He just had a dry throat and the urge to use the bathroom. After a few moments of just laying there on his bed, Lance got up. He basically dragged himself to the bathroom before going to get some water.

The apartment was dark, even darker since it seemed that Keith had drawn the curtains as closed as he could. Lance could vaguely see his shape in the dark. He got a glass of water as quietly as he could, trying not to slam the fridge door. Lance was used to being in the dark of his kitchen, but it was much more difficult when he was trying to be quiet.

Without watching his step, Lance turned around. He slammed his foot right into the wall, and he felt his toe spike in pain. Water spilled on his hand and Lance cursed (what he thought was) quietly, trying not to yell out in pain.

Even though he had attempted to be as quiet as possible, he still woke up Keith. A white light was flashed onto him, making him wince. Lance heard Keith yawn, “Lance?” His voice was deeper than usual, thick with sleep.

“Yeah,” his own voice was scratchy. Keith grumbled and Lance heard fumbling as he tried to figure something out. There was suddenly a light on and Lance watched as Keith looked at him for over the couch. “You didn’t have to turn on the light,” Lance told him. Keith shrugged.

Keith’s hair was sticking up all over the place. He looked like an exhausted mess, rubbing at his eyes so that he wouldn’t squint as much. His face was puffy. Lance sat down next to him on the couch. He imagined that he didn’t look much better. It was the middle of the night and they were both tired. “I probably won’t be able to fall back asleep for a while, so I might as well have it on,” Keith admitted as he flopped back into the couch cushions.

Lance hummed in agreement although it sounded a little bit like bullshit. Then he sipped at the water gingerly. Keith rested his head on his shoulder and Lance felt his cheeks heating up as a result. Lance didn’t push him off since Keith seemed comfortable. He put down his cup of water and just sat there with him. “Did I interrupt a dream?” Lance asked him quietly.

It seemed that Lance’s hand had a mind of its own. It reached up and dug his fingers into the back of Keith’s hair where the base of his neck was. He gently began to run his fingers through it, just generally giving Keith a light scratch. Keith hummed, leaning into his touch like a content cat. “You did. It was a good dream,” Keith sounded on the verge of sleep.

“What was it about?” Lance’s voice was quiet, barely a whisper. He stopped petting Keith and just twirled strands of hair around his fingers.

  
“Space,” Keith began. Lance glanced at him, his eyelashes were against his cheek. Lance thought that Keith was a pretty person in general, but he looked prettier right now, half-asleep and eyes fluttered shut. His face was a little bit puffy but Lance didn’t care about that. “I dreamt that I was in space with you,” Keith’s voice was still quiet, “Hunk was there too. So was Shiro and Pidge, but it was mainly you and me in space.”

Lance let out a light laugh. “That sounds fun,” he said quietly. “What were we doing in space?”

Keith leaned into him more, basically laying on Lance’s side the best he could with Lance sitting up. “Space things,” his voice sounded far off. Lance wondered if he was still in space, dreaming about the way that they were there. “Saving planets. Arguing because space is rough, y’know, space things,” Keith repeated.

“Maybe you should go back to sleep, buddy,” Lance whispered to him. Truthfully, Lance was incredibly comfortable now. He didn’t want to get up. Keith let out a low noise that could only be described as a whine.

“I don’t want to move. I don’t want you to move,” Keith said. Lance wondered how tired Keith was to openly admit that.

“I don’t think we can both fit on the couch,” Lance replied honestly. Keith got off of him, stretching a little bit. He still reminded Lance of a cat with how he stretched and the way that he moved.

“We can fit if we try hard enough,” Keith told him.

“You’re strangely cuddly,” Lance raised an eyebrow. “Did the cuddle bug bite you, Keith?” he asked, teasing him and poking him gently in the side. Keith swatted his hand away with a small snort.

“No,” Keith told him. “I just want to cuddle with you,” he told Lance so nonchalantly that Lance almost didn’t believe him.

“What?” Lance asked, genuinely confused. “Why?”

Keith looked at him. His expression was a mix of confusion and exasperation. “You know why?” It was phrased as a question, Keith’s eyebrow was quirked. “Don’t you?”

“No…? Should I?” What was Lance missing here? Was there a big secret that he didn’t know?

“Lance,” Keith furrowed his brows this time. “I think it’s pretty customary to cuddle with your boyfriend,” he looked at Lance so seriously. Lance stared at him for a moment, trying to process what he had just said. “I know we never said it officially or anything, but still,” Keith was pouting just a little bit now and Lance realized that he was still staring at him like an idiot.

“We’re… dating?”

“Lance.” Keith looked annoyed this time.

“I’m being serious, Keith. You think that we’re dating?” Lance asked him. Keith’s expression changed from annoyance to surprise, to hurt, and what he was sure was embarrassment. Although Keith seemed like someone who was hard to figure out, Lance noticed how easily he wore his expression. Keith seemed to emote everything, from his eyebrows to his eyes, to the way that his mouth curved, and how his nostrils twitched. Keith was an open book for Lance and right now he didn’t like the page that he was on.

“Oh my god,” Keith’s voice was quiet. “Oh my god, you never said we were dating because we’re not,” he pressed his hands against his face. Lance felt embarrassed, but he knew that Keith was probably feeling more so.

“Well, no, but-” Lance began.

“I’m such an idiot,” Keith pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Hey,” Lance grabbed his wrist gently and Keith’s eyes snapped towards him. “You’re not. I do have a crush on you, but I didn’t really realize it until not that long ago and I wasn’t going to say anything about it,” Lance didn’t want Keith to feel embarrassed. He didn’t want him to feel bad about thinking that they were dating.

Keith’s expression changed again and Lance realized just how much he could stare at his face for. “How long ago did you realize that you liked me?”

“Um,” Lance thought about it, “After you left. When I was sick,” he admitted.

Keith stared at him for a moment now. “Lance that was, like, four days ago.”

“Well, five now technically.”

“Lance, I thought we’ve been dating for even longer than that,” Keith told him. He spoke with his hands and Lance was entertained by the way that they moved when he spoke.

“Wait, when did you think that we started dating?” Lance asked him.

Keith had to think this time. “I don’t really know actually? I guess when you started to be more affectionate towards me I just assumed that something was happening. The spa day we had was pretty much a date and we go on coffee dates a lot and I know you were sick, but you were basically hanging off of me when you were sick,” Keith stated, he looked a lot more awake now. Lance guessed that finding out you weren’t really dating the person that you thought you were dating did that to you.

Humming, Lance considered what Keith had said. Now that he thought about it, he could see how someone would think that he was dating them, but they had never said it out loud. Plus, Lance had thought that he wasn’t obvious with his crush. Apparently, Keith had figured out that Lance liked him before Lance had figured it out. “Yeah, that does sound like we’re a couple,” Lance murmured. “But don’t you usually have to talk about being a couple before becoming a couple?”

“Doesn’t it? I just assumed that the two of us were a thing, but not, like, a “thing”. A ‘thing that was happening, but neither of us was going to say it’ type of thing,” Keith told him.

“So, you like me, huh?” Lance asked him, smirking at Keith.

Keith grabbed a throw pillow and pressed it against Lance’s face. “Shut up! You liked me first and you’re not a subtle person, Lance,” Keith laughed a little bit and Lance laughed too despite the pillow being in his face. When he moved it away, Keith’s face had a light tint to it and Lance knew that that was a blush.

“Where’s your proof?” Lance stuck his tongue out at him and Keith just rolled his eyes. “Do you want to try actually dating? With both parties being aware of the fact that they’re dating,” there was a distance between the two of them now since Keith had scooted away almost automatically when Lance questioned their status. Maybe, if they got married, this would be an interesting story to tell at the reception.But that was too far ahead. Lance wanted to enjoy the here and now.

“I would like that,” Keith agreed. “Of course I would since I already thought we were dating,” he laughed a little bit and rubbed the back of his neck. Lance noticed how awkward he seemed and he thought that Keith looked cute when he was awkward. But then again, he thought that Keith was always cute, so it didn’t really matter to him.

For a moment Lance was silent before he glanced at Keith and his hands and now he wanted to cuddle now more than ever. “We should cuddle, legit cuddle without any fevers.” Lance stood up. “Let’s go to my room,” he grabbed Keith’s wrist and Keith followed him.Keith was blushing a little bit more and Lance felt that his own face was beginning to get warm.

Keith turned off the light and Lance led him to the bedroom. Since it wasn’t the first time that they cuddled, neither of them were that hesitant. It was just the first time they were cuddling as a couple though. Yet, Lance was so tired he didn’t care. He completely forgot the cup of water. His bed was comfortable and soft and Keith was in it. He had curled in his bed and Lance followed after him. It was too dark to see his face and the two of them didn’t really say anything for a moment. “Goodnight,” Lance whispered to him.

“Goodnight,” Keith whispered back.

Lance closed his eyes and relaxed the most he could. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep and Keith was quickly asleep next to him too. The sheets were warm, and Lance was exhausted.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁  
He woke up the next morning due to light shining on his face. Keith had his arms around him and Lance was more or less wrapped around him. It had to be early since he didn’t smell any food. Usually, whenever he woke up, Hunk woke up first and when Hunk woke up first, he usually cooked. Lance guessed that he was sleeping in. He grumbled in his own sleep.

Keith was awake Lance realized when he shifted and Keith spoke up. It was very quiet, “Hey. Good morning.”

Lance didn’t reply, instead, he just groaned quietly again. “I don’t want to be awake.” Keith sat up and Lance huffed quietly. He rolled onto his side, away from Keith and instead stared at the wall. “What time is it?”

“About six,” Keith replied.

“Shit. Why are you up so early? Why am I awake so early?” Lance groaned, covering his eyes with his hands.

“I usually wake up around this time. What time do you wake up?”

“I don’t know. It’s usually around eleven I guess,” five hours earlier than he’s used to waking up. It was killing Lance already and he closed his eyes and relaxed. Suddenly he seemed to realize that Keith was in his bed and looked at him. “So,” Lance began. “This is actually happening?”

“What is actually happening?” Keith asked, with his eyebrows raised. “Us dating? Yeah, it’s happening.”

Lance felt a little giddy. More like a lot giddy. “That's so weird,” he mumbled, burying his face in the pillow. “A good weird, but still very weird,” Lance didn't look away from the pillow. He wanted to go back to sleep. It would feel so nice, but the other person in his bed apparently was a fidgeter because Keith kept moving around. Even though Lance felt happy and pleased, he couldn't help but look up at Keith.

Keith looked back at him, “What?”

“You move around a lot,” Lance mumbled. “Did you move this much last night?”

“No. I was exhausted, but now I can't get comfortable,” Keith flopped back on the bed. Lance pulled the covers away from him, instead, he wrapped them around himself. “Hey!” Keith yelled, indignant.

“These are mine now. You can't stop me from taking them. It's for the best since you're literally squirming around like a worm,” Lance burrowed deep inside of his covers.

“You're cruel,” Keith tugged on the blankets and Lance held them even tighter to himself. “Give me some of those.”

“No.” Lance held them as tightly as he could. Keith kept tugging and eventually some slipped away. Lance was quick to try and retrieve them. “Let go these are mine now,” Lance tried to pull them back and away from him. The other didn't let up on trying to take them away from Lance, but and Lance wasn't willing to let them go either. They just fought over the sheets. Some of them had slipped free and Keith had them in his hands, but then Lance was quick to pull them away.

“Just give me some covers, Lance,” Keith frowned at him.

“No.”

Keith tackled him and Lance let out a noise that could only be described as a squawk. He tried to defend his sheets. The altercation caused Lance to fall off of the bed and straight down to the floor. They landed roughly and Lance winced. Keith had landed on top of him, and the covers were mainly stuck on the bed now. “Ow,” Lance winced.

“You okay?” Keith asked, getting off of him.

“My ego is pretty hurt, but other than that I'm fine,” Lance looked over at him. “You okay?” He sat up slowly, wincing when he realized how tangled he was in the sheets by his feet. Lance pulled them down and untied them.

“I'm fine. You pretty much broke my fall,” Keith admitted to him.

“Good to know. You basically just landed on skin and bones, not much of a cushioning,” Lance got up once he was detangled. If their “argument” hadn't woken Hunk up, then their falling should have. He wondered how heavy Shay slept. Suddenly he felt guilty if they had woken her up. “Do you want something to eat?”

“I'm not usually hungry in the morning, but I'll take tea if you have any,” Keith ran a hand through his hair, Lance watched as the cowlick somehow stayed down.

“We should have some,” he led Keith out of the room. Keith looked tired still, and Lance wondered if he didn't sleep well last night. Had he stayed still and uncomfortable in an effort to make sure Lance was comfortable? Lance tried not to think too much on it, but it sounded like such a nice idea.

He put the kettle on for Keith who easily pulled himself up onto the counter and watched him. Lance made coffee too for when Hunk and Shay woke up (unless Shay preferred tea like Keith did). The walls in the apartment were pretty thin, so Lance could hear Hunk moving around-- the guy had a bad habit of stomping wherever he went.

Keith was quiet. Lance glanced over at him, watching as he stared intensely at the pictures on the fridge. “Who’s that?” Keith pointed at one of them, “The girl with her arm around your neck. She doesn’t look related to you.” He looked over at the picture and grinned. He and the girl were wearing matching shirts proclaiming the class they were in and the school they were graduating from.

“She’s my “sister”,” Lance explained. “My other best friend from high school. She stayed in state, so I only get to see her when I go and visit my family. Her name is Naru,” he let out a wistful sigh. “A woman after my own heart.” She was probably the first person that he really attached to in high school. Hunk didn’t count since they had been friends forever and there was nothing that was going to break that bond.

Keith smiled at him, “Sounds nice.” Lance had the urge to kiss him but wondered if that was too fast. Cuddling and kissing were two different things and he only knew definitely that Keith was comfortable with one of those things.

Familiar footsteps approached the kitchen, then, Lance heard Hunk yawn. “What are you guys doing up so early?” Lance glanced, watching as he rubbed his eyes, looking exhausted.

“Keith woke me up,” Lance admitted.

“I usually wake up around this time.”

Hunk let out a noise and glanced in the kitchen for the moment. “You’re making coffee?”

“Of course I am,” Lance told him. “Is Shay awake?”

Hunk nodded his head, not seeming to care about Keith just casually sitting on the counter. Had Hunk known that Keith stayed over last night? Lance was forgetting if he remembered to tell him or not. Either way, Hunk seemed chill with it. “She’s in the bathroom. I woke up because of you guys, but she only woke up when I moved to get out of bed,” Hunk yawned again. He was making Lance want to yawn.

“At least we didn’t wake her up,” Keith seemed relieved. “Sorry about that,” he smiled. “Someone tends to be selfish with the bedsheets,” Keith was looking directly at Lance as he said this.

“You guys shared a bed?”

Lance frowned at Keith, Hunk was watching the two of them with an odd expression his face, “You move around too much.”

“Wait, did you guys share a bed?” Hunk repeated his question. This time Lance heard him.

“Um,” Lance began, the kettle screamed, so he took it off. “For some of the night, yeah,” He admitted. A small part of him felt nervous all of a sudden, but he just ignored the weird tingling in his chest and his stomach. This was Hunk.

“I’m texting Pidge,” Hunk seemed to be positively gleefully.

“You’re not texting Pidge,” Lance warned him.

“I’m texting them,” Hunk ran off before he could stop him. Lance let out a sigh, listening to how cheerful his friend was about this.

With how happy he was, you would think that it was Hunk who slept in the same bed as Keith, rather than Lance. “Do Pidge and Hunk both know you like me?” Keith asked.

“Yes,” Lance answered.

Keith was smiling a little bit when Lance handed him his cup of black tea. Neither of them said anything, so Lance basked in the silence of the morning. He made himself a cup of coffee. In another room, he heard Shay and Hunk talking to each other. But he was happy where he was and he didn’t plan on moving.

His phone buzzed.

Gremlin: so,,, bed with Keith?

Lance ignored Pidge, turning their conversation on mute as he focused back on his new boyfriend.


	20. ACT 2, SCENE 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some doods being doods  
> Also I'm tempted to write this fic from Keith's pov  
> And I switched to updating every other week because of that end of the school year stress, and my school's musical is going on and last week was tech week and I had no chance of writing

The last time that Lance had dated someone, he had been in high school. Granted that hadn’t been that long ago, but he still felt a little bit nervous about dating. Maybe it was because Keith was somehow different. Lance had more of a casual dating experience, but he felt that he should take the relationship with Keith much more seriously.

“You look strangely nervous,” Keith stated, dropping down into the seat next to Lance They were in rehearsal, but were having a small break since everyone was complaining about the heat from the lights and the fact that the auditorium was way warmer than it should be, even with it being cold outside.

Lance looked at him before playing with his hair. It was tied up into a ponytail, and Keith wore a headband ot hold his bangs back. Lance thought that the style looked cute on him, and it allowed full view of Keith’s face which was always a plus. There was some sweat near the back of Keith’s hair, and Lance pulled his hand away after a moment of mindlessly playing with strands. “I’m just worried about Hell Week mixin with my school work. In high school it was already pretty hard, and I can’t imagine how it’ll be now,” Lance sighed quietly.

Keith let out a soft hum, nodding his head in understanding. Lance’s eyes trailed the drop of water that had escaped from his bottle while he was drinking it, it slowly fell down the side of Keith’s face. He wanted to wipe it off.

“I get that,” Keith said after a moment of just drinking water (which, honestly, Lance should be doing too). “I think you’ll be fine though. If you manage your time wisely you should manage to get everything done.”

Lance threw his head back in a dramatic groan, “But I suck at time managing.” He whined. There was no way that he would be able to just sit down for hours on end after rehearsal or the actual production to just do work. Keith made an expression that just seemed to be reserved for Lance alone.

“Figure out how to manage then,” Keith told him and Lance pouted at him.

“Keith.”

“What?”

“Keeeeith,” Lance moved closer to him. “Help me time manage? I usually rely on Pidge but they’re going to be worse than usual. And Hunk needs his rest and less stress.”

“So, you’re pushing the stress onto me?” Keith asked him, he looked somewhat amused by Lance but mainly annoyed. Lance gave him a sheepish smile.

“Yes…?”

Keith rolled his eyes and Lance let out a small whine. “Fine, I’ll help you,” he gave in and Lanc grinned. Truthfully, he hadn’t expected for Keith to give into him. But it didn’t mean that he was disappointed with the outcome. That meant that the two of them could share their stress now. Like a real couple. “But,” Keith began and Lance felt his heart drop in nervousness, “You owe me for this.”

Lance was relieved to know that to wasn’t anything serious. “What do I owe you?” Lance asked him.

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Keith glanced down at his phone, no doubt looking at the time. “We’re going to have to go back up there soon,” he commented. Lance noticed that Keith had the lightest under bags but they were still noticeable to Lance. It was shocking they were so light considering how pale Keith was, and he knew that everyone was exhausted. They were lucky that their costumes required so much make up.

“I don’t want to go back on stage,” Lance, ever unaware of personal space, dropped his head onto Keith’s shoulder with a small sigh. He didn’t move for a moment and neither did Keith. Eventually Keith stood up.

“Come on,” Lance looked at him and let out another whine before standing up. He followed him back onto the stage. Stretching, he listened to Allura talk about what scenes they were doing.

“Company you guys are lagging in “The Awefull Battle of The Pekes and the Pollicles”, Munkustrap you’re not going fast enough either. Alonzo you seem to be going faster than the rest, I don’t know if it means that you’re wrong or the others are just really slow,” Allura read of some notes. Shiro rubbed his neg almost sheepishly at the comment but he didn’t say anything else. Lance felt himself blush even though he knew that it was just a comment to fix himself, not anything serious.

“That’s something we’ll have to fix once the pit is here,” Coran told her, twirling his mustache. “We don’t know how fast they’ll play it, and we could easily adjust to make it work with both of us,” he stated. “Along that, you guys should remember that during the fight scene you’re supposed to be afraid. Especially you Demeter,” Coran glanced at the actress who nodded her head.

The two directors wet over some more basic notes, making sure that all of the actors were aware of what was going on. THis wasn’t the largest musical Lance had been in, but it was pretty big so the notes by themselves took a while. Thankfully, Allura and Coran didn’t wait until it was time to go to do notes. Instead they tried to get it done in small bits.

After a minute or so of notes, they got back to work. “Start it from the introduction of Grizabella please,” Allura yelled at them, and they all moved into their proper places. They only had a few hours left in rehearsal, Lance told himself, only a few hours and then he could go home and sleep.

Maybe he could invite Keith over again. Or maybe he should just ask him on an actual date instead of them relaxing in Lance’s small place all of the time. Or they could go to Keith’s apartment, whatever it looked like. Lance realized that he should be focusing on the scene on not just thinking about his boyfriend (who wasn't that far away from him to make matters worse).  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
Lance was so relieved when rehearsal was over. He drank a lot of water as he glanced down at the time. It wasn’t super later. “Hey,” Keith went up to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Do you want to ride with me? I know it’s cold out but it’s not that icy so it’s safe to ride on the bike,” Keith offered him.

The idea of riding on a motorcycle when it could be considered risky made Lance anxious. But also he loved riding on the motorcycle with Keith, and some small part of him was really eager about riding on it during the winter. “Sure,” he smiled at Keith. Keith gave him a small smile back.

“Cool, I’ll go and say goodbye to Shiro and stuff. And I’ll be right back,” Keith told him before jogging over to his older brother. Lance watched him for a moment. He never realized how much he liked Keith until he realized he liked him, and then he pined a lot but now he felt like he was pining even more. Because dating Keith was great and he was experiencing it but he wanted to do actual date stuff and actually kiss him and call him dumb pet names and God.

Lance just wanted so much that it made his chest ache.

Finally Keith went back over to him, and Lance greeted him with a smile. “Ready to go?” Keith asked and Lance nodded his head. He followed Keith out of the auditorium, making sure that his jacket was on tightly.

“Are you dropping me off at my place or…?”

“Or?” Keith glanced at him for a moment, grabbing Lance’s hand as they crossed the parking lot to where Keith was parked.

“Or nothing,” Lance let out a small, possibly nervous laugh. Keith didn’t say anything but Lance felt like he was making a face.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Keith asked him, handing Lance the usual helmet that Lance wore. He was tempted to buy a helmet for himself so that he didn’t have to borrow one of Keith’s all of the time, but Lance also knew the point was moot since Keith could only carry one person on the bike anyways and from what he knew -- it was usually Lance.

Keith was waiting for him to answer but Lance wasn’t sure how to answer. “Lance,” Keith stared at him as he spoke slowly, “Do you want to go to my place? Or…?” He could tell that Keith was teasing him from the way he said or at the end, and Lance rolled his eyes, putting the helmet on and snapping the little clip.

“I want to go to your place,” Lance mumbled, watching keith shake his head before he climbed onto the bike. Lance climbed on after him, wrapping his arms tightly around Keith’s waist out of both fear and because he was able too. He rested his head on Keith’s shoulder, looking over it as Keith began to drive.

The ride there was basically identical to Lance’s ride home, since they lived in the same direction and area. It only changed once they passed Lance’s apartment. He had only been on this side of the area a few times, but not often enough to truly memorize places. Eventually Keith came to a stop, parking easily. Keith got off of the bike and Lance followed, although he was awkward about it and Keith had to place his hands on his arms in order to make sure that Lance didn’t fall over.

“I don’t understand how you’re still not good at getting off of the bike,” Keith said as he steady lance.

“My legs get all numb,” Lance defended himself, grabbing Keith’s hand. He was wearing (stupidly good looking on him) leather gloves, they were cold but Lance still held his hand anyways.

“‘My legs get all numb,’” Keith mimicked him.

“Why do you keep mocking me today?” Lance whined.

Keith was pulling him towards the building and then going up stairs. Lance followed him obediently. “You’re being whiny today,” Keith’s voice was deadpanned.

“You’re so mean!” Lance laughed despite himself, and watched as Keith opened up a door. There was a strange excitement at the thought of getting to see Keith’s apartment. When he was let inside, Lance took a moment to glance around. He slipped off his shoes. “It’s way cleaner than I thought it would be,” he admitted after a moment of silence.

“I don’t know if I should be offended by that or not,” Keith led him further inside of the apartment.

Keith’s apartment wasn’t super decorated but it wasn’t sparse. There were family photos, and a picture of what Lance guessed to be his final production in high school, considering the costumes they were in and how small the stage looked (and the obvious high school freshmen). There were a few cryptid related things scattered throughout, Lance noticed several maps on the walls too, a lot of space related things. Keith had said that he would do some kind of space-related major if he didn’t do theater.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Keith had gotten into the kitchen and Lance took a tentative sit on the couch.

“Water should be fine,” Lance replied, looking over the couch. It peered right into the kitchen, unlike Hunk and Lance’s place where they had to peek around a wall to see into the kitchen.

Keith sat down next to him, putting down the cups of water. “Do you want to do anything in particular?” He was a little stiff, and Lance wondered if Keith didn’t have company over often. Maybe Shiro and Matt, but Keith wasn’t much of a social creature.

Lance flopped onto him, not really pushing against him but enough to make Keith shift a little. “Have you heard anything from Dear Evan Hansen?” Lance didn’t answer his question, and Keith made the face again.

“No?”

“It’s really sad and I cry all of the time when I hear it,” Lance admitted. “So it’s about this teenager, a senior in high school named Evan Hansen. He has severe social anxiety and he writes letters to himself as a suggestion from his therapist, he has a bully at school named Conner. Conner and him somehow become a little friendly, and Conner finds a letter that Evan wrote to himself that mentions Conner’s sister who Evan has a crush on. Conner takes the letter and Evan freaks out because he thinks his life is ruined. It turns out that Conner commits suicide and the only thing found on him is the letter that Evan wrote to himself, making Conner’s family think that Evan was close to Conner. So then he begins to build this whole fabricated story about Conner and Evan’s friendship, and becomes close to the family as a result but the hole gets bigger and bigger.”

Keith was silent for a moment, “That sounds really depressing.” He mumbled, “Why do you bring this up?”

“Because we should listen to it,” Lance told him honestly. He grabbed his phone and pulled up the music, looking over at Keith. “It has one of the guys from Pitch Perfect in it. The magician dude,” he was already fishing out his headphones.

“I have a small stereo,” Keith told Lance, stopping him in his tracks. He got up, and Lance fell down to the couch. He waited for Keith to come back, sitting down (away from Lance’s head) and turning on the stereo. “Give me your phone,” he made a grabbing motion with his hand. Lance gave it to him, making sure that his phone was unlocked. The sound of his phone being plugged in was obnoxious. He hated whenever stereos made that noise, but he didn’t really know how to avoid it.

“Should I start from the first song?” Keith asked him.

“Obviously,” Lance shifted, sitting up after a moment. Keith did as he was told, although he had a small expression of hesitation on his face. Lance wondered if he described the musical in a wrong way. Truthfully, he was nervous about what Keith was going to think about the musical. Would he like it? Lance knew that it was one of the darker showers, like Next to Normal or Cabaret.

The first song started and it was along the lines of a usual musical, and the two of them just sat in silence listening for a while. Lance was watching Keith’s expressions as he took in the musical. His expressions shifted easily into what he thought of it, but Lance couldn’t truly discern them from each other.

“I like it,” Keith said when they were three songs in. Lance felt some sort of relief at that comment. “I mean obviously I don’t know what they’re saying in between the tracks, but it seems to be well written. From what they’re singing about and what we learn from that,” he said, talking with his hands. Lance watched him with a small smile, before he made it a confident grin that most people were familiar with.

“Told you that it was a good musical. I have great taste,” Lance scoffed. Keith rolled his eyes, there was a small smirk on his face that Lance wanted to kiss the corner of.

“I guess you do,” Keith said and Lance leaned against his side again. He grabbed Keith’s hand, playing with his fingers as they listened to one of the more depressing musicals.

“Have you heard Next to Normal?” Lance asked, “It’s kinda similar. I say kinda because it also deals with mental illnesses and family troubles, and a suicide attempt.”

“I’ve heard like one song from it, it doesn’t sound bad but I didn’t really give it the time of day,” Keith answered honestly, not minding Lance playing with his fingers. “Do most of your favorite musicals have a depressing plot?” He looked a little surprised by the idea, and Lance guessed that Keith thought he would like happy, upbeat musicals like In The Heights, or Wicked, or RENT (truthfully, Lance could not stand RENT).

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, Cabaret is my ultimate favorite musical ever. And it’s soo depressing, it’s dealing with pre-Nazi Germany, and then the beginning of Nazi Germany,” Lance shrugged his shoulders. “Do you have a favorite musical?”

Keith let out a soft hum, his head tipped back. “I don’t really know. Maybe it would have to be Pippin?” He looked over at Lance. “I think it’s an interesting story, I like the revival a lot but the original is also really good. I just really like Patina Miller,” he said and Lance nodded his head in understanding. He hadn’t listened much to Pippin, but he did see the one performance they did on the Tonys when they came back a few years ago. “As weird as it sounds, Matilda is also a really good musical. I know it’s technically for children but when I saw it, it was amazing,” Keith scratched the back of his neck.

“You saw Matilda?”

Keith nodded his head, “Yeah, on Broadway. It had Lesli Margherita in it.”

“Nice,” Lance was a little jealous, all of the musicals he had seen weren’t on broadway (or rather, they were but it was always the travelling show -- which didn’t make them worse but he imagined it didn’t have the same effect). Dear Evan Hansen was still playing and Lance was comfortable. Keith’s couch wasn’t the best but he was someone who was always comfortable.

Lance rolled more onto him. “Hey,” he said. “Kiss me.”

“What?”

“Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me,” Lance repeated, a small frown on his face. Keith looked a little exasperated.

“Lance,” he sighed.

“Kiss meeeee,” Lance was going to repeat it until Keith actually kissed him. He was aware that he sounded a little bit childish. Eventually, Keith sighed and then leaned in and kissed Lance. It was the first time that they actually kissed, and he knew that it would have been nice to not have Lance being obnoxious about it but that was just Lance being Lance. Lance kissed him back.

The kiss was gentle, a press of their lips with some pushing but not much. Lance pulled away first and then he gave Keith a large, almost wolfish grin. “You’re not a bad kisser, mullet man,” Lance stated. Keith pushed him gently on the shoulders.

“Shut up,” Keith laughed lightly. Lance was still grinning at him. Again the tightness of his chest game into play, the tight happiness that fell alongside butterflies.

“Make me,” Lance stuck his tongue out at Keith. Instead of a kiss, which he had expected, Keith shoved a throw pillow in his face. He pretended to hold it down and Lance (ever the actor) let out fake cries of anguish. “Here I die, killed by someone with a dumb haircut. Because I was too amazing, and handsome, and smart. And a great son and the best Latin lover that there ever was and that’s how I will be seen for the rest of time.”

“People who are dying can’t talk this much,” Keith pulled the pillow away and Lance stuck his tongue out at him again.

“I don’t have to obey the rules,” Lance stated.

Keith’s response was to gently place the pillow on his face again. Lance let out a squeak of protest. “You really are trying to kill me!” He exclaimed, pushing the pillow off. His tone was playful, and there was nothing serious in his voice.

“Yep, it’s true. I want my boyfriend of a few days dead, murdered. Gone with the wind,” Keith kept his voice monotone and his face flat.

Lance gave him another grin, “Aww, babe. You do care about me.” He reached his hands up. Keith just threw the pillow at his face instead of pretending to smother him with it. Lance began to laugh, wrapping his arms around himself as he laughed hard enough of nothing to make himself not breathe. Keith laughed with him, doubled over himself in laughter over nothing that was really humorous.

Neither of them could breathe for a few moments, and they struggled to catch their breath in between giggles. Lance put his hand on his face as he tried to get himself to be calm again. Eventually he got himself calmed down enough, breathing a little bit hard.

“You’re so stupid,” Keith shook his head.

“Thanks,” Lance was grinning still. Keith poked the one dimple that Lance had.

“Dumb.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Keith had a very small smile on his face. His cheeks were still flushed from laughing with lance. And Lance felt perfectly content just laying on the couch for the first time, and laughing over dumb stuff with keith. Just being dumb with Keith, in his dumb apartment. Lance felt super happy.


	21. ACT 2, SCENE 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of just filler  
> Sort of  
> Shorter than the usual chapters by at least 1,000 words too

“I wish that you two could go back to when you weren’t dating, and you were just pining and bickering with each other with weird moments of flirty. You guys are gross,” Pidge commented, looking over their chocolate milk to stare at Keith and Lance.

Automatically Lance threw himself on top of Keith. “Are we gross?” He spread himself as much as he could over the other, Keith was sitting up straight still so it looked awkward. “Are we Pidge?” He made sure to maintain eye contact with the gremlin themself.

“Disgusting, aren’t they Hunk?” Pidge looked over at him, Hunk looked up from whatever book he was reading. He had several highlighters in his hand, it was a bit amusing to see since he had set it up as if they were Wolverine claws.

“Hm?” He glanced at Lance and Keith. Keith, still straight up and rigid almost, and Lance who was basically laying completely on top of his boyfriend. “Yeah, disgusting. Hey, do you guys know what this means? It’s written really weird,” Hunk turned the book so that they could see it. Lance and Keith had to shift around, Lance being in his seat properly and craning his neck just a little bit so that he could properly look at the book.

Lance furrowed his brows at the sight, “I have no idea what they’re trying to say.”

“Yeah, neither do I,” Keith shook his head. Pidge mumbled a sort of ditto to that and they all moved away from the book. Hunk let out a soft sigh of frustration, he rubbed his face with the hand that didn’t have highlighters stuffed inside of each crevice.

“I don’t understand people who write textbooks,” Hunk sounded on the edge of despair. Lance couldn’t help but let out a snort, stretching his leg and nudging his foot against Hunk’s ankle gently.

“For my AP Stats class, the textbook had all of these sarcastic footnotes. So I feel ya buddy, I do,” Lance nodded his head in sympathetic understanding.

Hunk perked up at that, “I remember that. I remember the weird little footnote about not asking for help from the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz because the problem had something to do with the Yellow Brick Road?”

“Yes!” Lance said enthuastically, hsi chair moving a little bit as he jumped basically across the table to high five his buddy.

“When were you in AP Stats?” Keith asked him.

“How were you in AP Stats?” Pidge also asked him, and Lance pouted at them.

“I was in there in sophomore year, and yes it was difficult. But I passed, and I got a four on the AP test so I think that’s pretty impressive,” he crossed his arms over his chest as he settled back in his chair. Keith’s hand nudged his side a few times but he didn’t say anything about it. Lance wasn’t sure if that was his way of asking for his hand to be held, but Lance grabbed his hand. Keith didn’t react to this other than giving Lance’s hand a small squeeze before running his thumb over his knuckles.

“I am impressed. But I did that in eighth grade,” Pidge lifted their nose in the air. Lance attempted to kick them underneath the table.

“Shut up,” he rolled his eyes. Some people were staring at them in the cafe that they were hold up in.

Keith shifted, resting his head in his free hand. “Weren’t we supposed to be studying?”

“Weren’t you and Lance supposed to leave each other completely alone?” Pidge asked, flipping a page through their book. Lance kicked them underneath the table easily this time.

“We were supposed to do. And we are,” Lance looked at Keith. “Actually, do you want to go over some scenes later? I don’t really have speaking parts but I figured that you might want to go over scenes anyways,” honestly Lance just wanted to be alone with keith again. He enjoyed being around their friends, but he really liked just being with keith.

“I was planning with doing that with Shiro, do you want to join us?” Keith asked, furrowing his brows. Lance wanted to kiss the little furrow as usual, but he just sighed. And then he looked at Keith for a solid moment. “What?” Was Keith that oblivious sometimes?

Lance nudged him with his foot, and then an expression of understanding came across his face. “Oh. Oh!” Keith said with understanding.

“God, please tell me you guys aren’t planning make outs,” Hunk groaned. “I love you both, especially you Lance. But I don’t want to see you guys making out on the couch.”

Another small squeeze from Keith, Lance squeezed his hand back this time. “We’re not going to make out,” Keith said. “And we’ll probably go back to my place anyways. I don’t want to interrupt you,” he told Hunk, looking at the other man.

“I might actually go home soon,” Pidge said. “You guys are loud.”

Hunk let out a soft scoff at that, “You’re also pretty loud.” He looked at them, and Pidge just shrugged their shoulders.

“That’s true. But I’m not as loud as Lance,” Pidge stated.

“No one is as loud as Lance,” Hunk nudged Pidge’s shoulder. Lance wondered what was with the ragging on him that day. Was he just exuding that much annoyance? Or was this just normal and he suddenly was super aware of this in that moment? He suddenly felt too aware of this and he suddenly felt too uncomfortable with it, like he was in high school again. Or whenever he forgot to stuff down his anxiety.

“God you guys are so mean to me,” Lance pretended to be wounded. “I’m going to go run away with my cool biker boyfriend.”

“You think I’m cool?” Keith smirked at him.

“No, you’re not cool at all. I think you’re the worst person in the world,” Lance stated sarcastically, leaning in and kissing the corner of Keith’s mouth. He noticed the light blush that arose on the others face when he did that. “Let’s go,” he told him, since they had finished their stuff and Hunk was really the only one who was sitting there and studying. Lance and Keith could actually just go and do lines, something productive. Not just annoying Pidge.

“I'll see you back at the apartment,” Hunk waved goodbye. Pidge was still putting on their coat when Lance tugged Keith away from them. Keith didn't say anything for a moment.

“You do know we’re taking my bike today right? There's no need to rush,” there hasn't been any snow and the roads weren't that icy. Keith looked a little amused by Lance tugging him along like an over enthusiastic five year old.

“I want to be out of the cold as soon as possible,” it was biting at his cheeks.

Keith let out a small laugh and let Lance pull him along. He gave Lance a helmet once they got to the home, going through the usual routine of putting on his and getting on, then getting Lance on after he started it before driving off. Lance held tightly onto him, wrapping his arms around his waist and just enjoying the feeling of being on Keith’s bike.

When they got to his apartment he let Keith lead him this time, and the other was almost as enthusiastic as Lance was earlier. “Wind chill,” Keith mumbled when Lance noticed how cold his face felt to kiss. Lance was positive that he was that cold too.

As soon as they got into Keith’s apartment, Keith turned on the heat and Lance shucked off his shoes and jacket. Keith did the same after making sure the heat was on. “What scenes did you want to go over?” Keith asked him, hanging his coat up like he was a proper adult, and not a college student who had a wall that looked like something from a movie -- filled with conspiracy theories.

“I don't really know. Which ones do you need the most work on?” Lance asked. He didn't have any lines, so this was really more Keith than it was for him.

“Well, I don't really need to go over anything,” Keith shrugged. “I mean, I have everything memorized. And rehearsal is keeping me sharp,” he went over to Lance and sort of stood in front of him for a moment.

“What?” Lance asked. Keith was staring and he had an expression on his face that Lance couldn't place. Lance stared back for a moment before he noticed that Keith had the faintest of blushes on. He leaned in and pressed his lips to Keith’s. “Is that your way of asking for a kiss?” Lance smirked at him after the small peck.

“It's better than you chanting kiss repeatedly in my face,” Keith mumbled, leaning in and pressing another kiss against Lance’s lips. This one was less chaste, and Lance felt himself relax from it.

When they pulled apart, he grinned. “You think it's cute when I do that though,” Lance teased Keith, kissing the tip of his red and cold nose. “Your skin is way warmer than mine right now,” Keith always seemed to heat up easily. Lance was good with the heat, but the cold was something he still felt iffy around. He could adjust to it easily, he just didn't know if he liked it.

“You're still pretty cold,” Keith replied. “Do you want to lay down and cuddle?” He grabbed Lance’s hands and played with his fingers.

“I'm surprised that you're using actual words to ask that,” Lance lightly teased him. “I'm always down to cuddle you.”

“I think you're just always down to cuddle anyone.”

“That's true,” Lance shrugged a little. “But I'm mainly down to always cuddle you, babe,” he winked at Keith who snorted.

“Good to know,” Keith shook his head a little and Lance grinned at him.

“Are we going to be on the couch?” He asked.

“If you're okay with it?” Keith shrugged his shoulders. Lance’s answer was flopping down on the couch a little dramatically. Keith went to get blankets and Lance worked on getting comfortable. They were both going to be on the couch so he tried not to take up too much space, but figured one of them would end up on top of the other anyways.

Keith eventually came back, and dumped some of the blankets he had gathered on top of Lance. “What are you doing? Building a nest?” Lance asked, pushing the blankets off of him. “Wait. We can totally build a fort.”

Keith blinked at him, “A fort?”

“Yes. A fort. Did you and Shiro never build a fort?” Lance would be a little surprised if they didn't.

“Well of course. But I don't know if my couch cushions or pillows are strong enough to hold up a fort,” Keith told him.

“Let’s find out,” Lance grinned at him. He grabbed the blankets and rolled off of the couch, beginning to build. Keith stared at him for a few moments before following suit.

They stayed focus on the task, not including the one time that Lance had hit Keith with a pillow and Keith hit him back and they almost began to wrestle.

With their powers combined, they managed to build a fort in a quick amount of time. And when it was done, it looked pretty good too. Lance couldn't help but grin even wider than he already had been. “Look babe, we made our first house,” he crawled inside and sat up the best he could. It was low hanging so he wasn't able to sit at his full height.

“I don't want to build a house. I would much rather buy,” Keith crawled in after him. They had made sure that the floor was soft so he laid down on it. “It's nice in here. Comforting, a little stuffy but nice,” Keith commented.

“I think all forts are stuffy,” Lance replied. He laid down on top of Keith, despite him being taller. Keith didn't seem to mind. He automatically went to running his fingers up and down Lance’s spine. It tingles a little bit but he didn't stop him. “It's a nice fort,” Lance stated.

“It is a nice fort. Now we just have to see if it's going to hold,” Keith looked at his face the best he could.

“It’ll hold,” Lance promised him. But he wasn't sure if the fort would keep that promise for him. Not like he cared. If it fell, it fell. He was just comfortable where he was with Keith in that moment.

The fort did end up falling. And they ended up having to rebuild it. 


	22. ACT 2, SCENE 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya'll i lettered in theater and im in my schools theater counsel now?  
> i got a little pin now and everything

Lance could feel the drudge of tech week coming closer. It seemed like everyone in the cast was stressed out, and Allura looked ready to collapse. The set was being built, and they were still trying to organize last minute details (not to be mistaken with last, last minute details that would happen during tech week). Coran seemed to be getting more and more frustrated with whoever it was that did their costumes, since he would constantly leave rehearsal to be on the phone. Lance wasn’t sure that he had ever seen his mustache look so ungroomed.  
  
In all honesty, Lance was exhausted. And he was just relieved that the musical didn’t take place during finals season. It took place a month before it which allowed for some recovery room.   
  
Not a whole lot of recovery, granted.  
  
“I don’t--” Allura let out a long sigh, her shoulders tensing. Lance thought that she looked ready to punch someone. He wouldn’t blame her. He felt the same way, considering that none of the chorus were on key. Even Lance had to admit that he he was off key sometimes, but he at least had fixed it. The rest of them didn’t seem to care that much. Or they were exhausted, but still it wasn’t a very good excuse since everyone was exhausted.   
  
“You know what? We’ll reconvene in twenty, it’s 12:30 now so I’ll see you all n stage at 12:50. Get some water, use the bathroom, whatever,” Allura was usually more refined but she waved them off with her hands. Her eyes immediately went to look at the papers which held the stage directions for the backstage crew. Apparently she was already organizing that, which was good since it meant that they were free to make as many adjustments to the stage and setting they needed when the actual stagehands were there.  
  
Lance was tempted to just lay there on stage, accepting the heat of the lights and the heater system in the auditorium. Allowing them to melt his flesh off with how stuffy it was in there.  
  
“What are you doing on the stage? You do realize this is probably really gross, right?” Keith’s voice disrupted his willingness to melt away. Lance let out a small hum, looking up at his boyfriend who’s face was above his.  
  
“I have become part of the filth,” Lance replied, blinking. God Keith was pretty. Every time he saw his face he was blown away by how pretty he was. Could someone be so pretty?  
  
Keith snorted, “Get up. Let’s go raid the vending machines or something.” He moved away from Lance so they wouldn’t hit heads. Lance sat up slowly, stretching before riding to his feet. Keith glanced at him and then away, and lance took his hand, wondering if that was what he wanted. Because Keith could not use words, or do actions himself.  
  
It was endearing, sometimes. But Lance liked him too much to really care about his weird affection stuff. He entwined their fingers together, letting Keith lead him away to the vending machines. The machines were hidden in the green room, since during actual shows they concession stands would sell things to people. When there wasn’t a show, the machines would usually be out in the hall but apparently it was close enough to the show that they felt the need to hide them. Lance sort of got it, sort of.   
  
Still he followed Keith, happy to let the other pull him along where he wanted. “Aren’t you tired already?” Lance asked him, there were a few others hanging out in the green room but most of the cast should have been in the auditorium o r wandering the little halls.   
  
“Tired of what?”  
  
“The production,” Lance rested his head on Keith’s shoulder, watching as a snack fell down.  
  
“No? Not really,” Keith furrowed his brows. “I’m enjoying it.”  
  
“I’m enjoying it too. I’m just already tired of tech week, and that’s still what? Two weeks away?” Lance pressed a kiss to Keith’s cheek, watching as some blush appeared on his cheeks in reaction. Keith blushed so easily whenever it came to affection. It was adorable.   
  
Keith let out a low hum, “I guess I understand that. The weeks leading up to the production itself can be exhaustion.” He went and grabbed whatever it was that he gotten from the vending machines. Lance watched him for a few moments, wanting to dig his fingers through his hair and play with it like a child.   
  
“Yeah, exactly,” Lance nodded his head, glad that Keith understood where he was coming from with this. If he hadn’t then it wouldn’t have been a big deal.  
  
“If you need some rest in a silent place just let me know, I know Hunk isn’t the loudest roommate but I do live alone,” Keith shrugged. Lance worked on getting his own snack.  
  
“Are you inviting me over for a sleepover? Because if we have a sleep over, I hope you know that it’s going to include another spa day. And that we are definitely snuggling,” Lance looked at him with a small smug expression on his face.   
  
“I won’t fight against the snuggling,” Keith shook his head a little bit. Lance’s snack fell down and he grabbed it with some excitement. “I don’t know about the spa day,” Keith glanced down at the nails.  
  
“Oh, we’re having a spa day. Don’t deny it, you liked the last spa day that we had,” Lance poked Keith in the cheek. Keith wrinkled his nose at that and Lance smiled at the little wrinkle. He leaned in and pressed a kiss against Keith’s nose. It only made him wrinkle it more, and Lance kissed him. The kiss was soft, and Lance couldn’t help but smile in the small kiss.  
  
Keith pulled away from the kiss first. “We should probably go back to the auditorium,” Keith mumbled. He was blushing even more now and Lance wondered if he was easy to fuster that day or if he had never noticed how much Keith blushed. Maybe it was the affection Lance was showing him in public? Probably. “Come on,” Keith tugged him again towards the auditorium.   
  
They got back to the auditorium and sat in the back. It was incredibly hot in the auditorium, and Lance shrugged off his jacket. It instantly felt better. Lance curled up in his chair and began to eat his snacks happily. “How many people do you think will come to the show? Cats is kind of weird,” Lance glanced over at Keith. His hair was tied up again and Lance wanted to lean in and press a kiss against his neck. Lance didn’t do that.   
  
“All of the shows here tend to be pretty popular, no matter what is going on so I imagine a decent amount of people will show up each night,” Keith shrugged his shoulders.  
  
Lance looked down at the time, they only had five minutes left on their break. Twenty minutes did not feel like enough for their break, but they only had about three hours left until rehearsal was officially over. He was too excited to go home, and raid his own kitchen. And then take a nap since it was the best thing that he could imagine.  
  
Keith and him sat there in silence for a few moments, and Lance was okay with that. For the most part anyways. Lance liked talking, and talking meant that he was distracted from his thoughts. But he had his phone, which was distraction enough for him. Being near Keith was good enough for the moment too, since Keith’s hand found his hair and was scratching it. Lance found himself leaning into it, closing his eyes and relaxing.  
  
Eventually they had to go back to the stage. The last three hours of rehearsal weren’t that bad, since the break was enough to have the chorus getting their shit together. Allura seemed relieved, and Coran’s mustache was still frizzy but it was less so than it had been before.   
  
Three hours were done very quickly, and Lance grabbed Keith’s hand again. “Did you take the bus today?” Lance asked him, running his thumb over Keith’s knuckles. There was snow on the ground, and a lot of ice so he imagined that Keith wasn’t insane enough to go and ride his bike with weather like that out.   
  
“I did,” Keith nodded his head. Lance grinned.   
  
“Cool, come on,” he pulled Keith towards the exit. After a moment he pulled back on his jacket. It was going to be pretty cold outside. They left the auditorium, going towards the bus stop.   
  
“I can’t wait to take a nap when I get home,” Lance let out a small sigh. He still held Keith’s hand as they waited for the bus.   
  
Keith was playing with Lance’s fingers, and he couldn’t help but smile at that. He had a look on his face that made Lance wonder what was going on in his hand. “Did you not sleep last night?”  
  
“No, I did. I just want to sleep more,” Lance admitted. “I can always sleep more.”  
  
“I can’t do that,” Keith admitted. “I wish that I could nap but they’re hard for me.”  
  
“Didn’t we nap together not that long ago?” Lance raised his brow.  
  
“We did, but I spent most of it awake,” Keith told him. Lance let out a small gasp of shock, being overly dramatic.  
  
“Come over today and nap with me,” Lance offered to him. He leaned down and pressed a kiss against his temple. “And if you can’t fall asleep, then I’ll stay up with you.”  
  
“But what about your nap?” Keith asked him, and there was some blush on his face. So it was affection. Lance was pretty sure that it was the affection anyways, since most of their affection thus far had been behind doors.   
  
“I might still fall asleep, don’t be mistaken,” the bus arrived. Lance led Keith onto the bus. They found their seats and Lance leaned in and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “But I’ll still try and stay awake for you,” he whispered to him. Keith was blushing again and he couldn’t help but find it absolutely adorable.  
  
The bus ride was slow but Lance was okay with that. Keith was staring out the window for most of it, and he looked out the window too. It had began to snow again, and Lance felt something inside of him die at the sight. Lance didn’t mind the snow that much but it had been snowing so much lately, which just made it more difficult to get around. Their bus stopped, and they got off it.   
  
“So, are you coming over?” Lance asked Keith.  
  
Keith seemed to weigh the options in his head. “No, take your nap and actually get some sleep. I have to go do homework anyways,” Keith leaned in and pressed a kiss against his cheek. “Do you want me to walk you to your apartment?”  
  
“Sure,” Lance was always willing for that. They got to the apartment, and Lance wrapped his arms around Keith and pulled him close. “I’ll see you later,” he leaned in and kissed Keith slowly. Keith kissed him back, bunching Lance’s jacket in his hands. They kept kissing each other. “Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” Lance asked when they pulled away, brushing his hand against Keith’s cheek. “I’m suddenly not in the mood for a nap,” he pressed a kiss against Keith’s lips again.  
  
“I’m sure, I’ll see you later okay? Maybe we can figure out the sleepover date, and we can also set up another date,” Keith pressed another kiss against Lance’s mouth.   
  
“I’ll see you soon,” Lance said to him. The two of them separated and Lance went inside of his apartment.   
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
Soon was pretty soon, since Keith and him decided to do the sleepover within that week. Because they were both clingy. “Hunk, how many shirts should I bring?”  
  
“Two? Maybe,” Hunk shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really know. I usually bring two if I’m over at Shay’s.”  
  
“Okay,” Lance felt weirdly nervous about this. “Hey, are you going to eat these leftovers?” He asked Hunk, glancing at the food in the fridge.  
  
“No, you can eat them,” Hunk told him. “When does the production start needing tech people?” Hunk asked, “I know you've told me before but I just wanna double check because I don’t want to miss anything.”  
  
Lance hummed, “They’re going to start needing you pretty much next week. That’s what Allura was saying. They’re also going to have to need us to clean up the prop room and everything, so I think she’s willing to have some tech people help out with that. If you’re willing to join in.” Lance began to warm up the leftovers.  
  
“Maybe, it doesn’t sound that bad. Is it like high school where the prop room isn’t even that messy?”   
  
“I don’t know, I’ve never been in there,” Lance sat on the counter as he waited for the leftovers. They were warmed up soon, and Lance set out to eat them. He was still sitting on the counter and Hunk was leaning back on the other counter. “I don’t think it should be bad though, after all they clean it before every show and there’s plenty of shows that are done a year.” Lance shrugged.  
  
Hunk nodded his head in agreement.   
  
Lance didn’t talk since he was busy eating the food. He was sure that Keith was going to have food at his place, but Lance was hungry now. And he would fix that hunger in that moment. “Okay, I’m going to go finish packing,” he finished eating his food quickly. “Do you want me to do the dishes?” Lance filled the tupperware with water.  
  
“Nah, I got it. You did them yesterday,” Hunk patted his shoulder. Lance nodded his head and finished packing. There wasn’t a lot of packing that he needed to do in the first place so that was done quickly. Lance wanted to go over to Keith’s now, but he felt like that might be a little too eager.  
  
Lancelot: what time do you want me to head over?  
Mullet Man: whenever you want to i guess? It doesn’t really matter to me as long as you come over  
Lancelot: why, such a romantic Keith  
Lancelot: i can come over now, if you’re okay with that?  
Mullet Man: I’m more than okay with that  
Lancelot: okay, i’ll be over as soon as possible  
Lancelot: i’ll see you soon <3  
  
“I’m going to head out,” Lance gathered his bag and pulled on his boots.   
  
“Be safe,” Hunk told him. Lance gave him a big grin, and stretched his arms out towards Hunk.  
  
“Give me a hug,” he told Hunk. “I want a Hunk hug.”  
  
“I hate you,” Hunk hugged him anyways. “Hunk hug sounds weird,” it was a good hug but all of Hunk’s hugs felt good. And safe.   
  
“I’ll see you buddy. Try not to have a party while I’m gone,” Lance joked before leaving the apartment. He toyed with his house keys as he walked to Keith’s. Why was he so nervous about this? They had slept together before. Multiple items actually. And it was nice whenever they did it. Maybe Lance was just being dumb, he probably was just being dumb.   
  
He got to Keith’s apartment quickly, knocking on the door. It didn’t take long for Keith to open the door, and Keith gave him a very small smile. “Hey,” Keith greeted him and led him inside. Lance took off his shoes. “Was the walk here bad?”   
  
“No, well other than the snow no, it wasn’t,” Lance took off his jacket, and hung it up.   
  
Keith kissed him when he was done setting all of his stuff down. Lance kissed him back happily. “Hello,” Lance whispered to him before kissing him again. They kissed for a while.  
  
“Come here,” Keith grabbed Lance and led him to the couch. Keith kissed him again, and Lance kissed him back. Keith was in a mood and Lance didn’t mind it at all, he just kept kissing keith as long as he wanted to kiss.   
  
“You’re in a mood today,” they didn’t kiss as much as this ever. There was a lot of kissing now, and Lance was really enjoying it.  
  
“Sorry?” Keith looked confused, obvious not sure how he should respond to that.  
“No, no it’s okay. It’s just unlike you to want to be so affectionate,” Lance watched as Keith’s face turned a little bit red. “You’re usually affectionate, but mainly because I’m affectionate,” Lance pressed a kiss against his cheek.   
  
“Sorry, I just wanted to kiss you a lot,” Keith pulled at Lance just a little and pulled him closer.   
  
“You’re okay. I like kissing you, and we can do that a lot if you want to. It’s not like we’ll be able to kiss when you have a facial mask on,” Lance kissed him again and Keith buried his hands in his hair. There wasn’t a lot to really hold onto but Keith played with the hair at the nape of his neck. Lance and Keith just kissed, which was really nice. His lips weren’t soft (did Keith not know what chapstick was?), but Lance didn’t care.  
  
Lance licked Keith’s lower lip, which had keith pulling away instead of the reaction that he wanted.   
  
“Oh, sorry,” Lance told him immediately. “I shouldn’t have --”  
  
“No, you’re fine,” Keith kissed his cheek. “I just didn’t expect that,” he leaned in and kissed Lance again. Lance kissed him back for a moment before pulling away.  
  
“Is that a no for making out? Well, not a no for kissing. But just a no for full on making out?” Lance wanted to clarify this so that he didn’t do something that made Keith comfortable.   
  
“No, no you’re fine. I just wasn’t expecting it the first time,” Keith told him. “Are you okay with it?”  
  
“Of course I’m okay with it,” Lance admitted a little bit too fast. Keith nodded his head and leaned in to kiss Keith again. They kissed for awhile and this time, when Lance licked his lower lip, Keith opened his mouth just a little. Lance had expected for Keith to accept Lance taking the lead, but his boyfriend had different ideas about that. Keith took the lead with the kissin and Lance didn’t mind at all, despite the fact that Keith was a little amateurish with his kissing.  
  
Lance still didn’t mind. Any and all of his nervousness was gone now.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
They stopped kissing after a while, and put on a movie so that they could have the spa experience. Keith’s head was tilted back as Lance brushed his hair gently. The kissing had been fun and Lance wanted to kiss him more, he also wanted to make marks against Keith’s neck. He just focused on working with Keith’s hair.  
  
Lance finished with his boyfriend’s hair, and admired just how calm Keith looked. Granted he couldn’t make much of a facial expression with the face mask on, and he had cucumbers covering his eyes so Lance couldn’t see these (unfortunately). “Comfortable?” Lance asked him, pressing a kiss against Keith’s neck. It was the only way that he could kiss him at the moment since his face was covered in a mask.   
  
“Yeah,” Keith’s voice was a little muffled. “What about you?”  
  
“I’ll take care of you first,” Lance grabbed his hand. Keith’s hands were pretty rough, and his cuticles were still pretty bad even though Lance had already tried fixing them. He began work on them, filing down them first and working the best he could. Keith looked so relaxed still. “Do you want me to paint your nails any color? Or just clear?”  
  
“Red,” he mumbled.   
  
He pressed a kiss against Keith’s knuckles. “Okay,” Lance began to paint Keith’s fingernails slowly. Finishing up his nails, Lance let Keith rest his hands down on his thighs. Lance painted his nails in a dark red, although he had bright red and he felt that Keith looked good in any shade of red, the dark red would look nice with Keith’s pale skin.   
  
Lance did his face first, and he leaned back against the couch. He didn’t want to paint his nails at the moment since there wasn’t a need also he had things on his face. Unlike Keith, he wasn’t wearing any cucumbers or anything. He stared down at his phone, scrolling through social media. They were silent, letting the quiet music fill in the silent spaces between them.  
  
It was nice, just the two of them doing this. Lance just enjoyed spending time with Keith though. He looked over, wanting to kiss him again on the neck. But with the face mask on them both, it would be weird if he did. Since it would feel pretty weird, and it would be difficult.  
  
“I like you a lot,” Lance mumbled to Keith. Keith didn’t respond, but Lance wasn’t sure if it was because the mask or if it was because of Keith just didn’t know how to respond. That was okay by him.   
  
“I like you too,” it was mumbled when Keith finally responded.   
  
Lance smiled at him, although he couldn’t see. Oh. Lance gently took off what was covering Keith’s eyes. Keith blinked slowly at him, and his hands twitched as if to rub his eyes. “Hey there,” Lance grinned at him (not really a grin since the mask was tightening).   
  
Keith gave him a small smile back, and Lance snuggled up against his side.   
  
“Look at this meme,” Lance mumbled to him.   
  
They just sat there for a while and looked at memes together until Lance needed to wash off Keith’s face mask. And then his own.   
  
“Should we put on a movie?” Keith asked him, pulling Lance on top of him on the couch.  
  
“Yes, you can put on whatever you want,” he leaned up and kissed Keith’s jawline. Keith nodded and put on whatever he wanted -- which happened to be some documentary on an urban legend.  
  
Keith was a dork. But he was Lance’s dork.


	23. ACT 2, SCENE 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did u guys see the tonys because the great comet got fucking Robbed

Tech week was hell. It was the first day and Lance already felt as if he was going to rip his skin off if he had to spend another second in the auditorium. It was getting stuffy in there, everyone was getting cranky.  
  
Super Saturday had been the last rehearsal, and everyone was fine then. There had been free bagels, and the tech people had began to show up (much to his excitement because Hunk was there with Pidge, and keith, three of his favorite people in one room was great). The stage was basically done being constructed and Allura was calm as she gave the tech people constructions. The only person who had seemed stressed at all seemed to be Coran because of the fact that he was the teacher director and apparently was taking all of Allura’s stress somehow.  
  
Lance felt fine on Saturday.  
  
Monday was when he felt as if he wanted to die. They were three hours into rehearsal, three hours in. And yet he wanted to go home and curl up. He wanted to hide underneath his bed sheets and not talk to anyone for the next five days.  
  
Lance couldn’t even enjoy Keith wearing a literal catsuit because his own didn’t fit properly. Other people had issues with their costumes as well. And the green room was loud, it was a mess because they were such a large cast.   
  
Lance was a loud person. He knew that he could be too annoying, too abrasive. But there was something so overwhelming about this one rehearsal. Maybe he wasn’t ready for college level theater. Everything seemed way too loud and he couldn’t find Hunk anywhere, and running into the bathroom to hide didn’t seem as appealing as it was when he was in high school.   
  
It was like high school in that as soon as the directors stopped addressing the people on stage, everyone went into an uproar and began to talk to each other loudly. Lance wondered if the headache behind his eyes was from aggravation or if it was from the fact that everyone was so loud.   
  
It was also getting incredibly hot on stage. Lance felt that had a huge part in the fact that he was beginning to feel irritated. His shirt wasn’t sticking to his skin. Yet it was still too warm, despite the snow that had fallen outside. And the fact that it was almost negative something outside. Lance had know idea why he moved to some place that was so incredibly cold.   
  
He focused back onto the directors in front of him. It was better if he had something to focus on.  
  
“Can a few people go to the prop room to find the canes we’re using for Gumbie?” Allura’s voice was loud even over the chaos. The cast all looked at each other for a moment, some people seemed to begin to raise their hands. But Lance shot his own up.  
  
“I will,” he told Allura who nodded at him.  
  
“Who else would go with Lance? I imagine that he can’t do that on his own,” Allura stated.  
  
“I’m sure that he can,” Coran winked at Lance, and lance just wanted to go into the prop room already. He didn’t want anyone else to come with him since that meant that he was going to have to have a conversation. Lance was so tired. He wondered if there was a couch up there, and if he would be able to just relax for a moment. Lance doubted that he would be able to.  
  
“No, there’s too much of a mess up there. It’ll take too long if it was just him by himself,” Allura waved away Coran’s comment. The older man frowned but he didn’t look that dejected. Before anyone else was able to, Keith raised his hand. Allura blinked at him but nodded her head. “Alright. Keith and lance can go to the prop room,” Lance was grateful that the second person was his boyfriend. Hunk would’ve been nice but he was busy, so was Pidge. And Lance still wasn’t super close to Shiro.  
  
After a few more moments of just standing around, Allura giving the two directions as to where they should find the canes, they left. The prop room was above the garage, hidden in the back of the theatre. Hey had to go up a flight of stairs to get to it, but it wasn’t that bad.   
  
Lance opened the door and frowned when the stuffy air of the prop room hit his face. Keith’s hands had found his waist almost automatically. Lance was unsure if he was attempting to initiate something, be it conversation or a kiss, or if he was just resting his hands there. Either way, Lance didn’t mind.  
  
He just led his boyfriend into the prop room. “Leave the door open, it’s stuffy in here,” Lance mumbled.   
  
“It’s probably the warmest spot in this whole place,” Keith’s voice was gruff behind him. Lance leaned back into him, rocking back onto his heels. He almost let his weight completely fall onto Keith. Keith just gripped his waist a little bit tighter. “What are you doing?”  
  
“Fainting from the heat,” Lance looked up at him from where he now was. He was titled a little more downward. The angle wasn’t flatting for either of them but Lance didn’t think that it mattered that much. He was just fooling around anyways.  
  
“Shut up,” Keith shook his head at his actions, and Lance grinned. Keith gently pushed him so that he was standing upright. Lance turned around to look at him. He wrapped his arms around Keith’s neck, despite Lance having a few inches on him.  
  
“Kiss, kissss,” Lance whined in front of his face. Keith rolled his eyes, rocking up a little bit to meet Lance’s lips.   
  
“You’re so needy,” Keith whispered to him, not moving that far from Lance’s mouth. Lance just grinned at him, the grin melting away as he leaned in and kissed Keith again. Because he was able too and they were alone, and Keith was much better at kissing when the two of them were alone.  
  
“I just like kissing you. And two kisses are always better than one kiss,” Lance stated. The grin was on his face again when he pulled away. “Can we just spend the rest of rehearsal here? I don’t want to go back to the others,” he admitted.  
  
“I noticed you were quiet today. Is something wrong?” Keith furrowed his brows, and Lance waved him away.   
  
“I’m just tired. Even I get in the mood where I don’t want to socialize sometimes, shocker, I know,” Lance joked.  
  
Keith stared at him. “Is that all?” He asked.  
  
“Yeah, it is. Don’t worry about me,” Lance felt like he just needed a long nap and then he would be right as rain. After a few moments of silence he took Keith’s hands and kissed him.  
  
“You never made out in a prop room before, right?” Lance asked him.  
  
“Lance, we’re not making out in here,” Keith stated. He sounded like Shiro when he said things like that.   
  
“We are totally making out in here,” Lance replied. “The place is a mess. We can just say that we couldn’t find them for a while because it’s such a mess in here,” Lance waggled his eyebrows. He was leaning in, “Come on, Keith. It’ll be fun. And it’ll help make me feel better,” he said.  
  
“A nap would help you,” Keith replied, although he sounded really amused. Lance just hummed, leaning further in and pressing a kiss against his neck. Lance kept kissing his neck, trailing his mouth up Keith’s skin until he reached the underside of Keith’s jaw. “There isn’t a place for us to even make out on,” Keith murmured. He tried to think to himself, lance realizing that they had kissed a lot but never full on made out. Lance figured they should really change that.  
  
They could change that right then and there. He pulled away from Keith’s neck and scanned the room. There was a couch but it was covered in things. There was also a desk that was pretty much uncovered. “Come on,” he led Keith over to the desk.   
  
“We are not making out here, Lance,” Keith stated although he didn’t do much in actually pushing Lance away. He just hummed and pressed another kiss to his neck. Keith was the one who was leaning him against the desk anyways. He wrapped his arms around keith’s neck and drew him in for a kiss. Keith kissed him back, his hands bunching up Lance’s shirt.  
  
It was soft at first. But most kisses started out soft. Lance nipped down gently on Keith’s lower lip. Keith kissed him even harder than, not opening his mouth for Lance much to his disappointment. Instead, Keith ran his tongue along Lance’s lower lip. He let out a soft sigh, a small little pleased noise when Keith slipped his tongue into his mouth.   
  
Lance buried a hand in Keith’s hair. Oh, he loved his hair. Keith didn’t do anything to it. But it was soft and thick. He raked his nails along Keith’s scalp gently, alternating between stroking his hair and massaging the nape of his neck. Keith pressed their lips harder together, and Lance just let out another soft noise.  
  
“Maybe you should get up here,” Keith pulled away. He licked his lower lip. Lance nodded his head and got onto the desk. It was a little cluttered but he didn’t think much of it. Instead, he just drew Keith closer and kissed him again. They kept kissing.   
  
He pulled away from the kiss this time, “Opinion on hickies?”  
  
“Never thought I would get one?” Keith answered. Lance laughed a little bit. How could Keith think that? Keith was gorgeous. He had such nice skin, such beautiful eyes, and hair. HIs face was gorgeous and he was just gorgeous. Not to mention he was nice to talk too. Lance thought that he was good with conversations, although he was a bit awkward. He was also incredibly talent.  
  
“I want to give you one,” Lance leaned down and kissed him on the neck again.   
  
Keith seemed hesitant. “Okay, but not to high up,” he gave in. Lance nodded his head. He pressed a few more kisses along his skin before finding a spot on Keith’s neck. Lance bit down gently on a spot that seemed really nice. He heard Keith hiss a little bit, although it didn’t sound like displeasure. Lance kissed the mark anyways before continuing to bruise Keith’s skin. He licked it gently after a moment in an attempt to soothe the red spot.  
  
Lance pulled away and looked at it. “That’s gonna bruise nicely,” he grinned at the sight.   
  
Keith snorted at that. Their lips were fused together again and Lance let himself get lost in kissing Keith. Keith was a great kisser too, but Lance was definitely biased.  
  
Eventually they pulled away, lips a little bruised and faces a little flushed. “We should definitely look for those canes. They’re probably wondering why we’re taking so long,” Keith was kissing his jawline now. Lance titled his head so that it was easier for him to kiss him.   
  
“I don’t want to move,” Lance answered. “I want to make out with you forever.”  
  
Keith laughed a little bit, moving away from him. Lance pouted at him but he got off of the desk and took Keith’s hand, giving it a small squeeze before letting it go. The two of them began to look for those canes.  
  
“It’s really a mess up here, huh?” Keith was scanning through a pile of props. He found a cane, and Lance had found two. They needed more than three though.  
  
“I wonder when someone last cleaned this place up,” Lance murmured. He hummed quietly underneath his breath before he found more canes. He had found four by then, and Keith had found two. He felt a little accomplished by the fact that he had found more than his boyfriend.   
  
“Never,” Keith joked. “I think six should be enough. I also don’t think there’s anymore that we can find,” he held up the two he found and Lance held up his four. Instead of saying anything (he did huff), Keith just took one of the four from Lance so he had more hand space.  
  
“Can we make out again now?” Lance asked him.  
  
“No, Lance,” Keith poked at Lance with one of the canes, making him laugh despite the pout. “If you want, you can come over after rehearsal.”  
  
“We’re getting out late tonight.”  
  
“Stay the night? Won’t be the first time we sleep over at each other’s houses,” Keith raised a brow at him. He followed Lance back to the stage.   
  
“Maybe,” he was considering it. But also he wanted to sleep for a long time and he wouldn’t be able to do that with Keith. Usually he slept just fine with Keith, but he really wanted to kiss him. There was no way for Lance to combine sleeping and kissing. That was a difficult task to do, especially if he wanted to kiss him in real life and not just his dreams.  
  
“Let me know before we leave,” Keith told him. He pressed a kiss against his shoulder despite Lance wearing a shirt.   
  
“I will,” Lance nodded his head. The kissing had helped him a lot, surprisingly. Maybe all he needed was a light make out and a few smooches.  
  
They returned to the rest of the cast. Lance felt a little drained again when he got there, but he shook it off and just rested the canes on the prop table. Keith did the same, and Lance leaned over and pressed a kiss against his cheek. Keith’s face went hot underneath his lips, but Lance was pretty sure it was because other people were around them and not the fact that Lance was kissing him.  
  
They went back to the rest, although they did stay close to each other. As close as they could with having to run through things.  
  
And so the drudge of tech week went on.   
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Lance did not end up going to Keith’s house. Which was okay. But now he was laying in bed, staring up at his ceiling despite it being too late to stay up. He wondered if he would still be up if he was with Keith.  
  
He was pretty sure that he would still be awake despite keith laying beside him. Lance turned onto his side, curling into the fetal position. He grabbed his phone. It was too bright despite the fact that it was on it’s lowest setting. There were a few notifications, mainly from people who were up late on social media. Lance went to his messages, looking down at them with a small frown on his face.  
  
Would Keith find it annoying if he messaged him now? He worried his bottom lip between his lower lip. Chewing on the skin gently.  
  
He could bother Hunk, but he could also hear the snores from his room. Hunk was a deep sleeper. Lance wasn’t going to mess that up for his best friend.  
  
Apparently Keith didn’t sleep that much usually. Not even apparently. Lance and him had mentioned their lack of sleeping before. He stared at his phone still, still worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. It was beginning to hurt but he didn’t care much to stop chewing at it. Finally, after a few moments of hesitation, he texted Keith.  
  
Lancelot: are you awake?  
My Mullet: I am now  
Lancelot: shit, sorry  
My Mullet: why are you awake? It’s late  
Lancelot: just couldn’t sleep i guess  
My Mullet: so you decided to text me  
Lancelot: sorry  
My Mullet: no, it’s okay  
My Mullet: is there any reason why you can’t sleep?  
Lancelot: no, just can’t sleep  
  
Lance watched silently as three little dots appeared on his phone.  
  
My Mullet: can I do anything to help?  
Lancelot: I don’t know  
Lancelot: maybe not  
Lancelot: just felt like talking to someone  
My Mullet: I’ll talk to you until you fall asleep?  
Lancelot: that’ll be nice  
  
He felt relieved that keith had agreed. He smiled a little bit as he settled deeper into his sheets. There was guilt from texting Keith so late at night and waking him up. But the guilt melted away when the two of them just texted back and forth.  
  
Soon enough, the wave of sleepiness started to crash over Lance quickly  
  
My Mullet; look at this article about the sightings over the dover demon  
My Mullet: i want to go out and find this stuff  
  
Lance just smiled. He went to type an answer back, blinking. The blink turned into full on sleeping soon enough.


	24. ACT 2, SCENE 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao sorry I died again, I've been finishing the story

Tech week was called Hell week for a reason. The reason being that everyone felt incredibly dead inside and sluggish. Lance dropped his head to Hunk’s shoulder, frowning when the other moved away to go and do something on stage. For once he had a moment to just sit down and he instead leaned his head on Keith. Honestly he should’ve gone for Keith first. Keith wrapped an arm around him, his fingers stroking up and down Lance’s arm. Lance felt himself smile.

“Hey,” he spoke softly to him as they watched Allura work a scene on stage.

“Hey,” Keith spoke back, just as softly. “Are you tired?”

“Aren’t we all tired?” Lance replied, letting out a loud groan as he continued to press his body weight onto Keith. The arm rest in between them began to poke in his side so he let up, sitting up a little bit straighter.

Keith shrugged his shoulders. “I’m getting the same amount of sleep as I always am. But I guess this is exhausting, it’ll be worth it though.” He seemed a little gleeful at the idea of the show being put on. Lance stared at his face for a moment, leaning up and pressing a kiss against his cheek.

“What was that for?” Keith asked him.

Lance shrugged his shoulders, “You’re cute.” He was incredibly cute and Lance could kiss him, so he decided to kiss him. Not a hard formula. Keith blinked at him, then nodded his head and pressed a kiss to Lance’s cheek. Lance grinned and perked his head up when Allura announced that they were doing one more run through before allowing them all to leave.

“Finally,” he whispered quietly, heading over to the his first position. Everyone else moved to do the same.

Despite it nearing nine o’clock, everyone acted with full energy. They knew that if they fucked off now, Allura would have their heads. And that the show would be shit. No one wanted to be the reason why the musical failed. Not getting their lines correct, or messing up mid-song or tripping during the dance scenes would make them not only feel shame, but would also make Allura seem as if she was a bad director. Or that the cast just really didn’t give a fuck.

So, even though everyone was incredibly tired, and they were all irritated, they still tried their damndest to make sure that the rehearsal went well so that they could all get home and go to bed.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
Lance did not go to bed as soon as he got home. He didn’t even go home. He and Hunk parted ways and Lance found himself at Keith’s apartment. Although Keith had given him some pajamas, and they were both really exhausted, neither of them went to sleep. They had even made it to the bed but they were both refusing to sleep at this point, more content to lay with each other. Lance curled into Keith’s side even more, sighing out of content.

Hs fingers played with Keith’s hair, his boyfriend was quiet for a moment as they just laid there together.

“Do you think I’ll meet your family?” Keith asked him, his voice was quiet and Lance couldn’t help but let out a small hum. He nuzzled Keith, still playing with his hair.

“Probably. They’re going to the second week of the show,” Lance stated, Keith’s eyes remained shut.

Keith was silent again, leaning into Lance’s hand like a cat. “Do you think they’ll like me?” He asked.

“Considering how much I’ve gushed about you on the phone with my family, I’m positive they’ll like you as long as you don’t be an ass, which. Actually. That’s going to be hard. Nope. They’re absolutely going to hate you,” Lance stated, his tone a little teasing. “They’ll think your mullet is weird, and that you’re amazing voice is too much for them. And that you make me wayyyy to happy.”

Keith laughed a little bit, it was quiet and small. It was a noise that Lance was sure was sent from the heavens. He wanted to record it and save it for his ringtone, he wanted to hear it constantly. Lance pressed a small kiss to the corner of his face.

“So, they’ll like me then?”

“No dude. Didn’t you hear? They’ll absolutely hate you,” Lance joked. Keith pushed him down, Lance letting go of his hair so that he was able to stretch out properly on the bed. Keith laid down next to him, an arm around Lance’s waist.

“Shut up, you jerk,” there weren’t any malice behind the words. Mirth pulled at the corners of Keith’s lips, and Lance leaned over to kiss him soundly.

“You like that I’m a jerk,” Lance replied. He shifted a little bit and closed his eyes, humming under his breath. Keith just laid there with him, Lance could feel him watching before Keith drew him closer and the two of them were lying there. Lance was still quietly humming all the way, and Keith ran his fingers up and down Lance’s arm.

It was incredibly comfortable, incredibly nice. Lance let out another small hum of satisfaction. It didn’t take them long to actually fall asleep. They were both tired of fighting what had been pulling at their eyelids.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Lance’s face was itchy underneath the make up. “Stop wrinkling your nose,” the artist swatted at his hand. Her pink hair was thrown over her shoulder, and Lance couldn’t help but be impressed by the way her own eyeliner was apparently an ombre fade into another color.

“It itches,” he replied as she went to get more black. The makeup artist just rolled her eyes, although she didn’t seem to be that annoyed actually. “So this is the first production you’re doing?”

“Yeah, my friend is doing backstage shit. He apparently endorsed my skills,” she seemed a little flattered. “Close your eyelids,” she instructed, and Lance tried not to shiver at how cold the brush was.

Dress rehearsals were now calling for full costume. That meant makeup. Makeup itself wasn’t actually that bad in Lance’s opinion. He just hated the fact that whatever face paint she was using was really dry. Maybe it was because she had only put one layer on. Lance knew that it was going to suck being underneath those lights and having to deal with layers of face paint on his face. It didn’t help that his makeup was mainly a lot of black and grey.

There wasn’t a whole lot of talking from then on. The artist was focused, and Lance couldn’t really speak anyways. Someone shrieked from behind him. “Where’s my tail!?” He could hear rustling, and someone else talking and calming down the other who was freaking out.

“My catsuit still doesn’t fit,” someone else said from behind him. There was music playing, a really loud Kendrick Lamar song that one of the actors was rapping along too. Oh. Now there were three cast members rapping along. One being a techie, another being a dancer, and of course the dude playing Mistoffelees was in the middle and just going for it. The make up artist looked like she was both annoyed, and struggling not to laugh.

Lance couldn’t help but find it amusing that this wasn’t even the most rambunctious cast he had been part of (a call of, “Who ate my oreos!? C’mon guys!” almost made him go back against this statement). He knew that Hunk was on stage doing something important for the set, and Pidge was messing with the lights (there had been one point where Pidge had accidentally shut off all of the lights on stage during Memories, the song had been interrupted by laughter caused by sleep deprivation that allowed for everything to be seen as funny). Lance briefly saw Shiro go into the main dressing room, before walking straight out and mumbling something about a proper bathroom.

He wondered where his boyfriend was, and if he was allowed to kiss Keith with all of this paint -- it was mainly face paint -- on his face.

Finally, the artist had finished with his make up. Lance thanked her, standing up and stretching. He needed to still put on his weird dumb gloves, and his weird tail. Also a wig that had little tufts of hair sticking up as if they were ears.

In that moment, his boyfriend dressed completely as Rum Tum Tugger came into the room (Lance wanted to grab at his hips, at his body in general in that dumb suit). “Fifteen minutes!” He called out.

An automatic response of “thank you, fifteen” came from all over the room. Lance tried to saunter up to his boyfriend, placing a smolder on his face. Keith stared at him blankly.

“You look ridiculous,” he stated. Lance gasped, placing his hand dramatically over his heart.

“And here I was thinking about how weirdly attracted I am to you right now, wondering if we could get away with making out,” Lance pretended to be wounded.

As if on cue, a shout from the make up artist, “No making out in make up! There’s only so much setting spray can do, people.” Lance glanced to see that she was fixing one of the cats make up, and a techie was stealing a makeup wipe to remove what was around his mouth.

“Apparently I’ll just have to wait until we’re both clean faced then,” Lance stuck his tongue out. Keith rolled his eyes at him, although he didn’t seem truly annoyed. Unless he was and Lance was just being extra annoying. He couldn’t really tell. It was getting harder to read people’s body language, since they were all exhausted and were beginning to get snappy with each other. Lance tried to brush the thoughts away. He always got like this. The anxiety of tech week just kept pushing up inside of him until it would pour out like a tea kettle.

“As long as it doesn’t include smearing make up then I’m fine with whatever your plan is,” Keith shrugged.

“But what if it’s smearing the makeup after the rehearsal? Does that get an okay?” Lance felt himself relax when they lapsed into some banter.

Keith snorted. “That’s fine. Is all you ever think about is making out with me?”

“Have you seen yourself? If I had your face, all I would think about is making out with myself,” Lance stated dramatically.

“Good to know that I have a boyfriend who objectifies me,” there wasn’t any malice in his words. Yet Lance felt a little on edge. He brushed it away.

“You wouldn’t like me if I didn’t objectify you, it’s not like I’m gross about it. I’m romantic. I’ll put flower petals on our bed if you asked me too,” it slipped out before Lance could stop it. He had been spending almost every night at Keith’s apartment now, and Lance was growing more familiar with his bed each night and each day. By this point, his beauty products were beginning to take over Keith’s bathroom (Keith didn’t seem to mind, Lance knew that he wasn’t using all of his shampoo so quickly and Keith smelled suspiciously like passion fruit now).

Keith didn’t notice the Freudian slip, and if he had, he didn’t comment on it. “Flower petals?”

“Y’know, like in the movies,” Lance stated. He glanced at the time and realized he should start putting on his wig. Keith watched him do this, helping out with making sure it was on properly at the end.

“Wouldn’t that be messy though? I would rather you just give me flowers so that there’s less mess,” Keith stated.

“I guess so. It’s a romantic gesture, Keith. It’s not meant to be anything but pretty… Although I guessed what would turn you on even more would be me placing a bunch of quotes from the X-Files on the bed. Or dressing up as Mulder.”

Keith laughed a little at that, the sound going straight to Lance’s heart. “I don’t think I’ll like you as Mulder. You’ll make a good Mothman though.”

“Keith, are you admitting that you would make out with Mothman?”

“I’m saying I would make out with you dressed as Mothman.”

“Yes, but that in turn, implies that you’ll make out with Mothman. And that you find Mothman more attractive than you find Fox Mulder. Which is just weird? But it’s okay because I love you and your weirdness,” Lance slipped with his words again. This time Keith did stop, he blinked at Lance as if he had grown two heads. Lance opened his mouth to immediately back track what he had just said.

“I love you too, but I’m not attracted to you dressed as Mulder because you won’t be able to pull off his outfits,” Keith stated, and Lance’s anxiety still wasn’t calm. It had calmed down though, he couldn’t help but be happy that Keith loved him back. He hadn’t even meant to say it now. But he guessed that it was out in the air now and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“I’m so hurt right now. You just keep hurting me today, babe.”

“Don’t call me babe.”

“Too late. You’re a total babe.”

Keith let out a small groan but there was that small smile on his face and Lance really wanted to kiss him. He gave him a very small peck, chaste. Not making out like he wanted to do but he guessed that settling was okay for now. “Hurry up and finished getting ready, we have to be on stage soon,” Keith mumbled, looking like he wanted to kiss Lance more (Lance knew that he wanted to kiss him more, god did he want to kiss him more).

Keith seemed to be knowing what Lance was considering. Maybe it was the look that Lance was giving him that gave him away. He was tempted to pull Keith into the dressing room and just kissing him in there. Their make up may end up smudged but he wouldn’t care. He wanted to kiss his boyfriend until they were both red in the face and maybe grinding just a little bit, hands busy with touching each other. “No, Lance,” his boyfriend’s stern gaze reminded him that his fantasy could not happen.

Even if he really wanted it to. Keith ignored the little pout Lance gave him, sticking his lower lip out. Instead he just turned and went towards the stage. Lance sort of sulked for a moment before following after him.

They had a rehearsal to do after all.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Dancing in the cat suit was incredibly difficult. It was even more difficult to dance when the lights were bearing down on them. They light crew were figuring things out, so most of the stage lights were on and all of the actors were sweating. He noticed Hunk pulling at his collar whenever he had the chance to see him (which was rare, Hunk wasn’t wearing all black yet but he was hard to see in the dark during scene changes -- there weren’t many but enough for Hunk to be on stage often).

They went through every scene without interruption. And then Coran would tell them what scenes they had issues with, or the sound guy would tell them that their mic hadn’t been on and then Allura would begin to tell them that even if their mike was on they should be able to project loud enough for the audience to hear. It was a standard dress rehearsal, although Lance was ten times more sweaty than he usually was. Was this what it felt like for the person who had played the Beast in high school? That guy had been covered in fur, and had been wearing padded clothing and a thick cloak a lot of the time.

Lance was sure he would get used to the heat, but he did have a hard time getting used to the tail that kept whipping around. At several points Macavity’s tail kept whacking him in the face during the fight scene. The wig was itchy. And he was pretty sure that Demeter was almost dropped at several points, thankfully Shiro was good at making sure she didn’t actually drop to the stage.

And dear lord, it was so difficult to not stare at his boyfriend when his character was introduced. No matter how many times Keith was introduced as Rum Tum Tugger, Lance found it incredibly difficult to not just stare at him. He looked dumb. By all means, Lance should not find him attractive wearing a weirdly low cut bodysuit, a dumb fake tail and wig with cat make up all over his face.

But Lance did. And he was going to have to sue the choreographer who thought that it would be okay to have Keith move his hips like that especially when she had know that he was going to have to wear something so tight around them. Lance just wanted to kiss his dumb boyfriend but he couldn’t and so he settled for just staring at his ass without shame whenever he was able too during the rehearsal.

By the time they were finished, his make up had begun to crack a little bit and he could see the make up artist talking to Allura about something. Maybe they were going to try a different brand. Keith was struggling to get his mic off without tearing it, and Shiro had already removed his wig. Lance helped his boyfriend get the mic off while Hunk worked with the other tech people on stage. Pidge was listening to the main light person explain something.

He kissed the back of Keith’s neck where the tape had been, “I think you might be allergic to this babe,” he stated. Keith’s skin was irritated from the tape, and Lance knew that it should not look so red.

“I know, they haven’t gotten me another type yet though,” Keith replied. “And don’t call me babe,” he carefully placed his mic along the little line that had begun to build.

“Sure, babe,” Lance replied. Keith glared and he laughed, Keith giving in and laughing too.

“Let’s just go and get changed. I want to go home and shower.”

“I need to stop by my place first, if you want me over at your’s that is. I need more clothes,” Keith grabbed his hand as Lance spoke, leading Lance to the green room.

“Yeah, sure,” Keith nodded his head. Lance smiled a little bit. The anxiety that ate away at him during tech week was calmed for a moment.


	25. ACT 2, SCENE 13

Night after night, Lance was painted as cat and was in a bodysuit. He was sweating on stage, trying to nail the choreography as if they were doing the actual performance. Allura was getting more agitated. Her hair was pulled into a high bun and she was glaring at the stage directions. Coran was frowning at the stage in that moment, yelling at one of the stage hands who rushed to immediately paint something on the set.

Lance felt exhausted.

But everyone else was exhausted too. He caught several of the cast members napping when they had the chance (they had a dinner break, people ate, and then they would fuck around and for some people fucking around included napping). Lance wished that he was able to nap, but he wasn’t the type to fall asleep in a random place like a cat (hah).

Leaning back he rested onto Hunk. For once the two of them actually had time to talk during the rehearsal. It was great since Lance had really missed his best friend.

“I think there’s a knot in my shoulder,” Hunk let out a loud and long sigh.

“Let me see bud,” Lance reached out towards him, pressing his fingers into Hunk’s shoulder blades. “Ooh, yeah I can feel it. It’s pretty big,” he applied some pressure to it. Hunk winced automatically and he moved away from Lance.

“That hurts.”

“It’s supposed to hurt. I’m rubbing it out,” Lance pulled him closer. He rubbed his thumbs into the knots and frowned. “I wish we had a lacrosse ball or something,” he lifted his arm up and applied pressure with his elbow. Hunk hissed when he did that. “Sorry,” he said as he continued to rub the knot out the best that he could.

“Can’t this wait till we get home?”

“Well, I’m just trying to alleviate some of the pain right now. You still have a bunch of work to do,” Lance stopped rubbing at the knot eventually. Hunk rubbed his shoulder, rolling it out. “Does it feel better?” Lance asked him.

“Yeah, it does actually. Thank you,” Hunk nodded his head. “Shouldn’t you be paying attention?”

“Shouldn’t you?” Lance shot back. They both had to pay attention to the scenes that were going on.

Hunk frowned at him and Lance stuck out his tongue. They both began to pay attention to what was going on on the stage. There were a lot of things going on right now since they were really trying to tidy things up. Loose ends in dance sings, making sure that people got their lines right, and definitely making sure that everyone hit their notes right. Because the altos struggled finding the keys and the sopranos were sometimes to flat.

And sometimes the tenors weren’t enough, they were so quiet. Lance was pretty sure that was just because the pit was still struggling with their volume control though since they had been fine in previous rehearsals.

Someone in the pit was stringing up their violin. A yell came from down there and Lance couldn’t help but look over at the orchestra. There was always a disconnect between the orchestra members and the rest. The crew also had a disconnect but they spent time on stage with the actors, but the orchestra barely saw the actors or the crew and the most interaction they had with each other was when they were performing.

“How long do you think it’ll take for Allura to crash?” Hunk asked him.

“She’s already crashing. I think she wore that sweater yesterday, and it’s backwards,” Lance answered him, looking at the other student. For the first time he thought that she looked like a student, since she looked so exhausted and like everyone else. Her usual goddess glow seemed to be dead underneath the stress that she was facing as a student director. Coran also looked stressed but less so than Allura did.

“Lance, that isn’t even your shirt,” Hunk told him.

He toyed with the hem, his face turning just a little bit pink when he did that. He wasn’t attempting to be stealthy since he was wearing Keith’s clothes at this point. It was just flustering to have that be pointed out to him. “I haven’t been home all week, I started to borrow Keith’s clothes,” Lance tugged the shirt down just a little bit. “All of his clothes are short.”

Hunk laughed a little bit and Lance elbowed him. “Shut up,” Lance said.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were laughing.”

“That’s not a statement though,” Hunk had a smile on his face and Lance rolled his eyes. “Hey, what if we get a cat?” Hunk asked him.

“You want a cat?” Lance looked at him. “I mean, sure,” he liked the idea of owning a cat. Hunk was allergic to dogs and they weren’t allowed in their apartment anyways. “A cat might be nice. Would we be adopting a kitten?”

“I don’t know yet. I just really want a cat,” Hunk shrugged his shoulders.

“I will get you ten thousand cats dude.”

“Dude,” Hunk placed his hands on Lance’s shoulders. Lance did the same thing to him. The two of them stood apart from each other, their hands dramatically gripping the other's shoulders as they thought of the possible cats that they could adopt.

“Dude,” Lance said.

“Can we get fluffy cats?”

“All of the fluffy cats,” Lance’s grin was so wide that it could have been splitting his face. He couldn’t help but think that the image of Hunk with a small kitten was adorable. Anyone holding a small kitten would be a dorable, Keith holding a small kitten would be especially adorable but he was really thinking about himself holding a small kitten. Cats had the best paws in the world, and they had such small noses too.

“Bro.”

“Bro,” the two of them were staring deeply into each other’s eyes. Although they both looked far too amused to really be anything other than joking around.

“All actors on stage please!” Coran’s voice broke the moment and Lance looked away from Hunk, looking towards the stage.

Lance let out a small sigh of disappointment. His hands dropped from Hunk’s shoulders and he looked back at Hunk for a moment. “My duty calls,” Lance placed a hand on his chest. “Later, my dude,” he began to walk backwards towards the stage.

Hunk placed his own hand on his chest. “Later, my bro,” he grinned at Lance. At that Lance pivoted and began to walk towards the stage properly now.

Lance couldn’t help but find it really amusing that Hunk brought up the idea of them adopting cats when they were about to put on Cats the musical. Maybe they could find a cat that looked like Lance in his costume. Would that be weird?

Nah. It wouldn’t.

By some miracle, they were given one other break. Rehearsal was going have to stretch later that day because of that but everyone was super relieved. Lance had wiped his make up off so that he could eat some snacks, even though he wasn’t supposed to eat in costume. It wasn’t like he was eating something that could stain his costume. After a while he decided to set out to find someone that he knew. It didn’t take him very long to spot Keith.

  
Dropping down next to him, Lance leaned his weight against his boyfriend. Keith had a pen in his mouth and Lance looked over his shoulder to what he was doing. There were small doodles on the page of little aliens but for the most part he noted the amount of math that Keith was glaring at. “Are you doing homework?” He asked him, although he knew the answer well enough.

“Does it look like I’m doing homework?” Keith replied, his voice a little snappish. Lance frowned and moved away from him.

“What type of homework are you doing?” He told himself not to take Keith’s tone personally. Everyone was terrible during tech week. He didn’t think that Keith was going to be any different. Even Hunk got grumpy and the guy was basically a giant puppy. Well, not exactly like that but he was more docile and he wasn’t the type to take out his exhaustion on someone (not that he didn’t get annoyed with people, because Lance had seen him get angry before and it was a little disorienting).

“Calculus I,” Keith replied. Nerd, Lance thought to himself. He strangely didn’t feel jealous about it though. When he was younger and found out that people he knew were more academically inclined than him he would get jealous, since dyslexia had always made it difficult for him in class (he got good grades though, but it was incredibly frustrating and he would be ashamed to admit that he had cried more than once during school).

He glanced at the work again, vaguely understanding it but not really paying enough attention to fully grasp what was going on.

Lance wanted to lay on his shoulder but Keith was using that hand to write so he didn’t want to disrupt that (and maybe he was just a little afraid that Keith would be annoyed with him if he did that). There were a few more minutes left until the rehearsal started back up again. Lance had hoped they would cuddle throughout it but he figured that there were worse things to do than watch Keith do math.

They were both in their costumes, their make up hadn’t been placed on yet and Lance knew that he should probably go and do that. But he really wanted Keith’s attention. He chewed his lower lip and just stared at Keith work for a while.

“I’m going to get into make up, you should too,” Lance said after a few minutes. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. His heart felt lighter when he watched the corners of Keith’s lips twitch.

(Keith had kissed him later before they went home. His hands had grabbed Lance’s face and Lance’s knees went week -- from both the kiss and also because he was exhausted from the constant rehearsals.)  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

  
“I want coffee,” Lance whined into Keith’s neck. “Let’s get coffee. We can go with Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk before rehearsal. Coffee sounds so good right now,” he continued to whine. He swayed the two of them on their feet, Keith’s arms wrapped around his neck in comparison to Lance having his hands on Keith’s hips.

“You’re going to crash mid-rehearsal,” Keith told him.

  
“No I won’t. It’s the last rehearsal babe, last rehearsal. Which means that we’re going to be pumped as hell,” Lance leaned down and pressed a kiss against his forehead. It had taken them so long to get to this point. First their show had been post poned, so they had so many rehearsals. And then tech week seemed to be longer than a normal week, even though the actual tech stuff about it was happening within 5-6 days. And now they were there, the last rehearsal before opening night. The one that really matter.

Keith still looked skeptical of him.

“I’ll make out with you if you let me get coffee,” Lance continued to egg him on.

“You’ll make out with me anyways,” Keith rolled his eyes.

“Fine. I’ll make out with you and I won’t crash,” Lance promised. He began to press small kisses against Keith’s skin. He found a spot he liked against his throat and nipped very gently at it.

“If you say you won’t crash then fine. But if you crash don’t come whining to me about it,” Keith leaned up and caught Lance’s lips in a kiss. Lance let out a satisfied hum and squeezed Keith’s hips before letting him go.

“So, coffee?”

“We’ll pick some up on our way there,” Keith smoothed out Lance’s shirt for whatever reason. Lance grinned and just texted the rest of their friends so that they knew what type of drinks they all wanted.

“Thanks,” Lance pressed a kiss to Keith’s cheek. It left his boyfriend smiling, although he did rub at his cheek afterwards.

They arrived ten minutes early to rehearsal with coffee. Hunk and Pidge had greeted them at the doors, taking their respective drinks before rushing to go and do their jobs. Pidge had poked Lance in the ribs in an effort to make him squirm (“Pidge, do that again and I’ll step on you.”), which Lance was sure meant that they were fine and were doing great despite being tired from working so much.

Lance made sure that his and Keith’s names were on their cups before going to get ready. Throughout the rehearsal he would sneak back to there to get some coffee, the make up artist who was chilling in the room would narrow her eyes at him and judge him.

He made it a point to sip at his coffee even louder.

The actual rehearsal itself went super smooth. Like so smooth that he was pretty sure it could have been the actual show. The major hiccups on happen during the fight scene between Lance, Shiro, and another actor. Somehow Shiro’s mic had gotten caught and it ended up getting a bit messed up but they were able to fix it. They also almost dropped Demeter because the pit had sped up which caused them to speed up.

It was also very nice to watch keith in full costume and swagger move his hips like that. Lance could do without the wig or the make up, or fake tail because he wasn't’ a furry. But he really did have to appreciate his boyfriend in those pants. Those pants were a gift from god. A gift from David Bowie and they did end up distracting him at several points of the show. But Lance didn’t mess anything up. Everyone tried their hardest to not mess anything up.

And not once did Allura or Coran stop them.

Which was extremely good.

The whole cast was really into it. The only time there was a physical mishap with the backstage crew was when the lights began to flash for some odd reason during a scene change, illuminating the people who were moving on stage. It was just a rehearsal though, so it wasn't a huge deal.

By the end of the run through, Lance could feel sweat dripping down his back and into his catsuit. He couldn’t find it within himself to really care about the sweat. Everyone lingered back behind the curtains until they were given the okay to come out, the techie person who stood back there to man the curtain’s was a little too over enthusiastic and almost stepped on Lance’s tail but he couldn’t find it within himself to care too much -- naturally he cared because it was his costume -- and he instead rushed out of the wings with everyone else.

Lance sat next to Keith, who had taken off his wig and looked dumb in the Rum Tum Tugger make up (he looked hot, but Keith always looked hot to Lance).

“Great job everyone!” For the first time all week, Allura glowed. Her eyes were sparkly and she had a wide grin on her face.

“There were a few mishaps, pit please remember to follow along with the actors, and actors try not to trail to slowly. We do have a time we’re trying to keep here, and the pit is supposed to play a certain tempo. Try to match up,” Coran stated, Allura nodding her head in agreement.

“Also please watch your step, everyone. There is a lot of turning and the wrong turn could easily lead to a bad ankle,” Allura cautioned and every nodded their heads.

“Sorry about the lights,” Pidge looked at the directors then at everyone on stage. “Circuit board is overheating since someone forgot to turn it off during dinner. It should be fine by tomorrow though,” they gave a thumbs up and a wide grin before going back to where the light crew was. Lance could see the silhouette of the main light technician.

Allura and Coran whispered something to each other, Coran was smiling and he placed down a small notebook that he had been taking notes in. “Other than that, great job guys! We’re ready for tomorrow’s show!” Coran cheered, winking at them and giving them a thumbs up.

Everyone else yelled too, it was more like a string of random noises of excitement but it was still excitement. Lance felt like he was buzzing, leaning over and kissing Keith despite the make up.

“Please take off your mics and then go and get changed,” Allura instructed them. Lance was grinning ear to ear, pressing another kiss to Keith’s cheek before he went to take off his costume. It was incredibly hot and stuffy, but he was excited.

By the time he was (slightly) bare faced again and dressed in comfortable clothing, he felt ready to take on the world. Keith had come in later to the dressing room than him since he had to deal with the mic stuff but they finished around the same time. His hair was pulled into a ponytail and Lance watched as he laced up his boots. Was Keith wearing leggings? How had Lance not notice before?

“Ready to go home?” Keith asked him when he was done, standing to his full height. For once he was wearing proper outer layers.

“Yeah,” Lance pressed a kiss to the top of Keith’s forehead. “How long have you been wearing leggings for?” He asked Keith.

“All day, Lance,” Keith grabbed his hand and tugged him gently to follow. They were back in the auditorium. Shiro was talking to Allura. They seemed robbed having a light conversation since Allura shoved Shiro gently with a laugh.

Keith waved at his brother who nodded his head. Shiro went over to them after dismissing himself to Allura. “Ready to go?” He asked the two of them.

Keith nodded his head, leaning on Lance. Lance wrapped his arms around him. “It’s past Keith’s bed time,” he joked, “Take us home, Shiro.”

“I stay up later than your most of the time,” Keith retorted with a snort as they walked out of the auditorium.

“Sh. Past your bedtime,” Lance placed a hand on Keith’s head, causing the other to bat at it. Shiro just looked at them for a moment (even without his usual eyeliner he was still pretty -- Lance hated the fact that both of the brothers were incredibly pretty).

“Keith used to have an eight pm bedtime because otherwise he would stay up all night and fall asleep during school,” Shiro told Lance as they got into the car.

“I never had a bedtime because my parents realized that it was useless by the time they had me to try and control when teenagers went to sleep,” Lance gloated.

“Maybe they realized they didn't need to because you sleep all day,” Keith rolled his eyes.

“That actually used to annoy the hell out of my mom. She would force me awake, one time she sent in my younger brother to wake me up and he put toothpaste on me and I rolled around in it until I woke up. She didn't even get mad at him, just told me that if I woke up on time then maybe he would have left me alone,” Lance recounted, throwing his hands up into the air as he spoke. “I had to clean the toothpaste up after!”

“What a tragedy,” Keith was smiling a little.

“At least you smelled nice when you woke up,” Shiro joked, or at least attempted to. Lance hugged a little at the statement.

It didn't take very long until they were at Keith’s apartment. Keith and Shiro had a brother moment in the car while Lance waited for his boyfriend patiently. Shiro was attempting to mess up Keith’s hair when he got out of the car, basically falling out.

“Why does everyone keep doing that?” Keith mumbled to himself, pulling his hair into a ponytail.

“It's the mullet. Such a terrible mullet we figure we can try and make it look better,” Lance waved goodbye towards Shiro before following Keith inside.

“One day I’m scared I'll wake up and discover that you cut my hair when I was sleeping,” Keith deadpanned.

“I would never,” Lance gasped out of mock shock. He wouldn't. But it was still funny to think about.

“Sure,” Keith said, sounding as if he didn't believe him as he led Lance into the apartment.

“I wouldn't!” Lance protested, wrapping his arms around Keith’s middle once their shoes were off. Keith laughed a little bit and shifted so he could kiss Lance.

“Shut up and shower so we can sleep. The shows tomorrow,” Keith told him.

“You're so demanding babe,” Lance pressed a kiss against Keith’s temple. “I'm wearing my onesie tonight. It's good luck,” he walked backwards to the bathroom to catch Keith frown a little bit.

“You're so weird!” Keith called after him. Lance replied by sticking his tongue out.

It was good luck, he felt to wear that onesie before opening night. So Lance was going to wear it even if it might get too hot that night. Traditions were traditions, especially when a show was going to go on.

Also it was a cat onesie and he could make fun of Keith in it.


	26. Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lot of the pre-show traditions are based off of my school's theater company so lmao have fun, it's much more messy than it is here since it's a bunch of teens

Lance woke up surprisingly early the next morning considering how late he and Keith had went to bed. He felt nervous, thinking about the show that was later that night, letting out a small sigh and rolling over to wrap his arms and legs around Keith. Keith shifted, easy to wake up, and blinked blearily at him.

“Hey,” Keith’s voice was deeper in the mornings. He scooted closer to Lance and Lance nuzzled him.

“It’s to early to be awake,” he grumbled against the top of Keith’s head.

“You woke up before me, apparently,” Keith mumbled in response. “Go back to sleep, Lance. I’m going to start getting ready,” he shifted away from Lance’s arms.

Lance let out a small groan. “Call time isn’t till five, Keith. Come back to bed with me,” he whined a little bit and made grabby hands at his boyfriend. There was a small pout on his face to accompany his grabby motions.

“Do you want me to make breakfast?” Keith asked him. “Also, I need to bathroom anyways.”

Lance snorted. “You need to bathroom?” He teased him gently.

The gentle blush that came on Keith’s face made Lance grin a little more. “Shut up,” Keith rolled his eyes. “So, breakfast?”

“Yeah, okay. Breakfast sounds good,” he agreed to it. “Now go do bathroom,” Lance rolled over and grabbed Keith’s pillow. He heard Keith mumble something underneath his breath as he left the room and Lance let out a small sigh, burying his face into the pillow. It smelled like Keith. He closed his eyes and relaxed.

It didn’t take him very long to fall back asleep.  
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When Lance woke up again, he could smell food. It took him a moment to roll out of bed but eventually he got up. He went to brush his teeth and made sure that his face didn’t look like he had just rolled out of bed. Before joining Keith in the kitchen, he grabbed a blanket from the bedroom and wrapped it around his shoulders. When he got to the kitchen he couldn’t help but smile at how messy Keith’s hair was, and how focused he was when he was cooking.

“Good morning, again,” Lance greeted him.

“Good morning,” Keith leaned in and pressed a kiss against him gently. “Took you long enough to get up,” Keith teased him.

“You have a very comfortable bed. It smells a lot like you,” Lance replied, leaning in and kissing Keith again. Keith kissed him back and Lance could feel a very small smile curl against his lips as they kissed. When Keith pulled away, Lance followed him for another kiss but Keith had turned away completely.

“You’re weirdly into my scent,” Keith raised an eyebrow at him. “Food?” Keith offered him a plate.

“Please, and thank you,” Lance grinned at him and took the plate happily. “Did you make coffee?”

“No. I figured that you would want to do that,” Keith shrugged. Neither of them went to sit down at any proper place. Keith sat on top of the counter and Lance leaned back against another side of the counter.

“Yeah. I do since you can’t really make coffee for shit,” Lance mumbled before eating some of the food. Keith kicked him gently, and Lance tried not to laugh.

“I can make coffee. It’s not that hard,” Keith defended himself.

Lance rolled his eyes, “Yeah but you don’t make it right. Whenever you make it it’s just… not right.”

Keith snorted at him, “I think you just have a big ego whenever it comes to your coffee.”

Puffing out his chest and huffing a little, Lance grinned. “As I should be. My coffee is pretty much perfect,” he boasted. Lance set down his plate, which was now empty and moved towards the coffee machine. He made some coffee, humming a little bit. While the coffee brewed, he went over to Keith and wrapped his arms around him, covering them both in the blanket.

Keith rested his head on Lance’s shoulder, the two of them just standing there for a moment.

“I’m tempted to go back asleep,” Keith’s voice was muffled against his shoulder.

“I just made coffee,” Lance whined a little bit. Keith pinched his side gently and Lance swatted at his hand, “Hey,” he squeaked in reaction.

“You made coffee for yourself then, because I’m going to nap since we don’t have to be at the theater until five,” Keith looked up at him. Lance couldn’t help but press a small kiss against his lips. Keith leaned up and kissed him back before he pulled away. “We can still cuddle though.”

“Cuddling is good enough for me,” Lance handed the blanket to Keith. “I’m still making myself a cup, though,” Lance rummaged through Keith’s cabinet before he found a cup. He made sure to make his coffee to his preference and then looked at Keith. “Are you napping on the couch or in the bedroom?” He asked, staring at Keith who had wrapped the blanket around him now.

“Let’s go to the couch. We can watch some Skin Wars, cuddle, and I’ll probably, most likely, will fall asleep,” Keith was already moving towards the living room. Lance followed after him, sipping at his coffee gingerly so that he didn’t burn himself.

The two of them spent a hour just laying on the couch, talking back and forth (“God, why is this dude even in the competition? He’s such a dick.” “Yeah but he’s the type of person that the crew hires just to make sure that there’s someone the audience hates.”). Keith eventually fell asleep around the third episode of Skin Wars. Lance ran his fingers through Keith’s hair, looking down at him. He had pulled the blanket up to his nose, curled up on the couch. With how soundly he slept, Lance wondered if he had gotten any sleep the night before.

As long as he got the rest that he needed, Lance supposed that he couldn’t complain.

Well, he was going to whine about the fact that Keith slept for two hours and wasn’t giving him attention, just to get a rise out of him.  
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“You were asleep for two hours.”

“You also slept when I was awake, why are you whining?”

Lance had pouted at Keith when he had asked that, not really answering his question. Keith had just rolled his eyes and leaned in to kiss him. It was basically impossible to pout when someone was kissing you enough that you were made into a small mess of little noises.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

By the time that they had to leave for the show, Lance had started to get nervous. Adrenaline was also beginning to pump by the time that they had entered the backstage area. He heard a cast member shriek somewhere in one of the dressing rooms. Allura was talking to a guy that Lance didn’t recognize, probably the person who was working the concession stand during the intermission. Her brows were furrowed, and her eyebags hadn’t gone away.

“Come on,” Keith tugged Lance gently and Lance followed willingly. The two of them didn’t talk much since they were busy getting into costume like everyone else.

Most of the conversation that they had was due to helping each other out with their costumes. “Why does your wig refuse to stay on,” Lance had huffed, helping Keith fasten it on after he had finished with his make up so that he could go and put on his mic. Keith had just shrugged helplessly in response.

The make up artist hadn’t really talked either. Most of the people in the room were relatively silent, probably attempting to save their voices for the show.

Lance couldn’t talk when she was painting over his face, his eyes were closed and she was completely focused on making sure that his make up came out strong enough for the audience to really notice it but also make sure that he didn’t just sweat off all of his make up due to the lights and moving around on stage. Lance was already sweating just sitting in the chair, and he felt a sudden pang of sympathy for her since she had to do every actor. And it was a pretty big cast, probably one of the biggest casts that he had been apart of.

She got done eventually and Lance just went to go put his mic on.

The show itself opened at seven, and there was still about a hour or so until the doors were open so a few actors were hanging about on stage. The stage had been set up and one of the light people was throwing popcorn at a techie, the pit was making a lot of noise as they were trying to warm up and going over sections of music that frustrated them.

He sat on the stage, making sure not to sit on his tail. Coran was looking over some papers in his hand before leaning over and talking to the pit director. The pit director had a crown on his head for some reason.

Pidge sat down next to him, crossing their ankles and looking at the pit director. “Did you know that there’s a bed on the catwalk?”

“Like… in high school?”

“There’s a bed on the catwalk,” Pidge repeated and looked at Lance. “And it’s been used.”

Lance let out a loud laugh, “Man. Theater is a weird place.” Pidge nodded in agreement.

“Do you think there’s traditions like in high school?” Pidge asked.

“I’ve heard there’s a few, not as many. Most of the traditions are post show from what Shiro’s told me. But I can’t tell you the pre-show ones because they’re for the actors and on stage tech crew only,” Lance patted Pidge on the back.

“Light is never included. Granted, we’re not there a whole lot since we’re messing around with the lights,” Pidge shrugged their shoulders. “It’s really no harm, no foul since we won’t be able to participate anyways.”

That was true. The light crew were basically cryptids. Lance guessed that was a reason why Pidge was the perfect light person, aside from their skill.

“You should get going. I think they’re going to do some of those pre-show traditions now,” Pidge glanced towards the doors that led to the stage where some actors were walking past, dancers basically prancing after them. Lance watched them for a moment before nodding his head.

“Yeah, alright. I’ll see you later?” Lance asked them. Pidge nodded their head and he gave them a grin, going over to follow the crowd.

He managed to find Shiro in it, and through Shiro he found Keith. “So, what are the traditions?” Lance asked Shiro.

“You mean updog?”

“Updog?”

“Yeah, updog,” Shiro looked so confident when he said this.

Lance furrowed his brows, “What’s updog?”

As soon as he said that, Shiro grinned and looked incredibly proud of himself. He began to laugh, and Lance had the realization dawn on him. Keith looked unimpressed by Shiro basically falling over with laughter.

Shiro had a deep laugh and he paused, “It works every time.” He laughed with joy before calming down. “It’s what we call traditions. Updog,” Shiro was leading them into a dark room that Lance could recognize as a practice room. There was some light from the day still streaming through the windows but that was quickly vanishing.

Someone closed the doors and Lance felt himself being pushed into the middle of a giant circle. He recognized other freshmen also being pushed in, and other people who were acting or dancing for the first time in a show.

“This is updog,” Lance looked at a senior. Shiro was holding a glowing phone towards her face, lighting it up from the bottom so it look ominous. “We begin,” the senior started, lifting her hands up towards the ceiling, “with the initiation. Please be careful of mics everyone, and of make up. Lights, off.” Shiro shut off the phone and darkness covered them again.

Then the chanting began, and Lance noticed that they were moving around them. “One of us, one of us,” it had started off quiet and then it gradually got louder. They kept yelling ‘one of us’ and then they moved in, engulfing the freshmen and first timers in a tighter circle before just pulling away with silence.

Someone turned on the lights and Lance felt a little confused, but not incredibly so since he had been through something similar before. “Vocal warm ups!” One person shouted, “Y’know, the rhyme competitions and stuff,” they continued.

Again they got into a big circle, this time leaving an open space in the middle.

Shiro cleared his throat and began to speak. “To sit in solemn silence,” he said and then waited for all of them to repeat after him. “In a dull dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life long lock, awaiting the sensation of a short sharp shock from a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block.” Again they repeated each line after him.

Another senior started clapping, keeping tempo as they all began to repeat the rhyme. They started off quiet again, getting louder and louder until the wer basically yelling the warm up.

Shiro raised his hand into the air and it got quiet before it dissolved into a mess. “Do we have any challengers for the title of warm up royalty?”

Keith raised his hand.

“Anyone else?” Shiro looked around, making eye contact with Lance. Lance looked around and then raised his hand. Shiro was grinning now, and Lance went into the middle of the circle with Keith, the two of them facing each other.

“Now, the way to win this is that you needed to be faster, yet still understandable, and finish before your opponent while completing the whole rhyme. Are you ready?” The actress of Grizabelle asked, looking at them. Both of them nodded. “Shake hands,” she told them, waiting until they did it to raise her hand.

“On your marks, get ready,” she brought her hand down swiftly without saying go.

Neither Keith or Lance paused before recounting the warm-up as fast as they were able to. It was hardly noticeable but Keith managed to finish before him and Lance cursed quietly while the others cheered around them. Keith just gave him a grin and Lance smiled back at him.

He went back to the circle and watched as someone else challenged Keith until he lost. They did a few more rhymes and rhyme like challenges until Shiro stopped them.

Someone turned off the lights again. “Everyone hold hands, we’re doing a pulse. If you fuck this up, then you are a dick,” the actress of Demeter spoke up. “I’m going to send a pulse around and it should come back to me on my opposite hand, ready? Good. No talking and close your eyes.”

Lance did as he was told and just held the people who were next to him hands. He waited until he felt a pulse to send a quick one to the person on the other side of him. As soon as it was done the actress of Demeter let out a sigh. “Repeat after me,” her voice was soft. “This is the best damn show we have ever done.”

“This is the best show we have ever done,” everyone repeated loudly, letting go of each other's hands.

“Get your asses on stage!” Demeter yelled, and everyone rushed out of the room and towards the stage. Allura was in the back behind the curtain, she had a headset on and motioned for them to get into their positions.

Lance found Keith before they got into their positions, giving his hand a small squeeze before moving to where he belonged. The curtains opened, and the show finally, finally began.  
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By intermission Lance felt like he was living in a cesspool of his own sweat. Eating wasn’t allowed in their costumes but Hunk had snuck him some M&Ms and Lance had eaten them without getting caught as fast he could (Allura had given him a suspicious glance when she saw his cheeks slightly puffy, but seemed to think that it wasn’t worth her time to call him out).

Lance wanted to get out of his costume already.

The show went on.  
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

And the show actually went really good. Like really good.

When curtain call came and when Keith stepped out, some people had begun to stand. The whole crowd stood up when Grizabell came out and they kept cheering for the longest time. There wasn’t anyone in the crowd who wasn’t smiling, and the same went for the cast and crew members. The pit leader stood up and showed off his crown when they gave the pit the credit they deserved, making the audience laugh. Then the current closed for the last time that night.

No one bothered to get out of costume before going to see who was outside in the halls, waiting for them.

Lance didn’t bother to go with since he knew that it was going to be incredibly crowded, and he just wanted to get out of his costume already. “I’ll meet you after you’re done out here,” he pressed a kiss against Keith’s cheek, not caring for the make up anymore.

It was damn satisfying to wipe off some of the make up and to get into his comfortable sweatpants and sweatshirt. Keith came around eventually and handed him some flowers. Lance noted that Keith had his own bouquet, “Matt had some flowers for us. He said you were lame for not going out to see him.”

Lance stuck his tongue out, “Tell Matt he’s lame.”

“He’s probably too busy being told that by Pidge right now,” Keith looked tired when he had his makeup off and Lance wanted to bundle him up as soon as they got home. Lance hummed and just waited for him to collect everything. “I’m glad the post-show stuff doesn’t happen till the last night,” Keith tied his hair up into a ponytail.

“Me too,” Lance grabbed Keith’s free hand and the two of them started to head towards the car. Before they met up with Shiro and Matt, he leaned down to whisper in Keith’s ear. “You’re getting laid tonight.”

Despite all of the exhaustion and slight annoyance that had basically filled them both, since tech week had just ended the day before and Keith got grumpy when he was tired, Keith still snorted at Lance’s dumb statement. “Do you want me to call you kitten in bed?” Keith asked him.

Lance just spurted in response, unsure what to say.

Keith had just bursted into laughter. And Lance felt a sort of peace come across him, one that could only come after a good show and being near someone that made him incredibly happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah this has been a long story!! thank you to everyone who's followed it till the end and stuff like that, i hope you enjoyed it  
> i'm going to write more stories in the future with keith and lance, expect a story that i'm writing with someone else soon!  
> thank you again to everyone who still followed

**Author's Note:**

> message me on tumblr : trans-riot.tumblr.com  
> I also have an art Instagram (electricitypurified)  
> I have a new Klance fic; it's a superhero au called [Nosedive](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12462924/chapters/28363062)


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